JMATHEMATI  / 


JLOGICA 


RHETOR  JCA 


>GRAMMATICA 


I!;! ! 


IHE  ]  .IBRARY 


THE  UNIVERSITY 


OF  CALIFORNIA 


LOS  ANGELES 


A  HISTORY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

FROM  ITS  FOUNDATION  TO 
A.  D.    1770 


INCLUDING 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

OF  THE 

TRUSTEES,  FACULTY,  THE  FIRST  ALUMNI 
AND    OTHERS 


BY 

THOMAS  HARRISON  MONTGOMERY 

MEMBER   OF  THE 

Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,    New  York  Historical  Society, 

Chester  County  Historical  Society,  Genealogical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 

Etc.        Etc.        Etc. 


I  think,  moreover,  that  Talents  for  the  Education  of  Youth  are  the  Gift  of  God ;  and 
that  He  on  Whom  they  are  bestowed,  whenever  a  Way  is  opened  for  the  Use  of  Them,, 
is  as  strongly  Called  as  if  He  heard  a  Voice  from  Heaven ;  Nothing  more  surely 
Pointing  out  Duty  in  a  Public  Service  than  Ability  and  Opportunity  of  Performing  it. 

Dr.  Franklin  to  Dr.  Johnson,  23  August,  1750. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  CO 

103-105  SOUTH  «5TH  STREET 
A.  I).   1900 


COPYRIGHT,  1900, 
BY  GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  Co. 


The  edition  of  this  book  is  limited  to  730  copies, 
of  which  this  is  No.-S-L 


ERRATA. 


Page  9,  line  6 


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81 

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3° 

9 
33 
29 

i 

23 

20 

34 
38 


Life  of,  by, 

and  not 

Life  of. 

associators 

" 

associations 

studium 

<< 

studiam 

Fourth 

<  i 

Tenth 

Par  ton 

" 

Paxton 

Lawrence 

" 

Laurence 

Rowning 

" 

Downing 

do 

" 

Bonning 

viri 

" 

vivi. 

visitor 

" 

writer 

i  July  1690  o.  s. 

" 

i  July  i69on.  s. 

Education 
JUbrvy 

' 


PREFACE. 

Some  years  ago  the  late  Provost,  Dr.  Pepper,  sought  my 
interest  in  writing  a  History  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
from  its  beginning  to  the  present  generation,  and  asked  me  to 
undertake  it.  The  honor  of  his  urgency  in  the  matter  was  so 
flattering  that  I  eventually  agreed  to  respond  to  his  call,  and 
soon  made  preparations  for  the  work,  which  was  to  be  carried 
on  within  my  own  time  and  opportunities.  The  progress  of 
this  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me,  and  its  course  proved  both 
entertaining  and  instructive  as  the  material  for  its  compilation 
was  both  rich  and  ample. 

My  labors  had  to  be  carried  on  in  the  interval  hours  of  a 
busy  life,  but  in  a  year  or  two  its  claims  seemed  to  press  ;  and 
finally,  even  after  some  weeks  respite  abroad,  I  found  myself 
unable  to  proceed  beyond  the  year  1769,  when  health  dictated 
my  arresting  the  work  there. 

Complete  as  it  is  to  this  point  I  now  submit  it  to  the  friends 
of  the  University.  These  early  years  of  its  operations  here  set 
forth  in  full  illustrate  its  formative  period,  which  is  the  most 
instructive  in  its  life.  The  detail,  it  is  hoped,  truly  portrays  the 
Men  and  Movements  of  the  ante-Revolutionary  period  in  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania  :  and  as  the  Movements  of  that  colonial 
period,  all  in  some  degree,  shed  their  light  on  the  colony's  great- 
est educational  undertaking  ;  so  the  Men  concerned  in  it  were 
the  representatives  of  the  contemporary  thought,  and  moved 
with  influence  in  those  circles  which  shaped  the  destinies  of  the 
Province,  as  well  also  those  of  the  Nation  that  was  then  approach- 
ing its  adult  years. 

If  this  picture  of  those  times  (for  the  University  was  neces- 
sarily a  part  of  them)  will  serve  to  enlighten  and  interest  its 
Alumni,  and  form  any  inspiration  to  its  Matriculates,  in  the 


988196 


4  PREFACE. 

personal  portrayals  of  the  men  who  built  the  foundations  upon 
which  the  present  great  superstructure  rests,  the  writer  will  be 
gratified. 

Having  been  himself  at  one  time  a  pupil  in  the  old  Academy 
building,  his  interest  has  been  enhanced  in  the  course  of  the 
present  work  by  the  memory  of  his  attendance  on  tuition  in  the 
venerable  birthplace,  now  no  more,  of  the  great  educational 
institution  whose  continuing  years  have  left  a  record  of  such 
great  interest,  and  which  to-day  holds  out  such  enlarging  prom- 
ises, the  fruitage  of  the  seed  laid  there  in  1749  by  the  "vol- 
untary society  of  founders,"  as  the  Trustees  were  termed  by 
the  first  Provost. 

THOS.  H.  MONTGOMERY. 

Ardrossan, 
23  February,  /poo. 


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1757-  . 

Arnold,  Matthew. — Address  on  Foreign  Education,  read  in  University 
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Ayres,  Anne. — Life    and   Work  of  William   Augustus    Muhlenberg, 
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Life  and  Correspondence  of  Samuel  Seabury,  D.  D.     1881. 

Bigelow,  John. — The  Complete  Works  of  Benjamin   Franklin.     New 
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Two  Discourses.      Philadelphia,  1885. 

Burnaby,  Andrew. — Travels  through  the  Middle  Settlements  in  North 
America,  in  the  Years  1759  and  1760.     London,  1798. 

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Book,  by  Lewis  Burd  Walker.     1 897. 

Burnet,  Gilbert. — History  of  my  own  Times.      1734. 

Carson,  Joseph. — History  of  the   Medical  Department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania.      1869. 

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Collections  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Historical  Society.    New  York, 
1851. 

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6  WORKS  REFERRED  To. 

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College  with  Annals  of  the  College  History.  1885. 

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ture. New  York,  1856. 

Fisher,  J.  Francis. — Sketch  of  James  Logan.  In  Sparks'  Works  of 
Benjamin  Franklin,  1840. 

Fisher,  Sidney  G. — Church  Colleges,  their  History,  Position  and 
Importance.  Philadelphia,  1895. 

Ford,  Paul  Leicester. — Bibliography  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Brook- 
lyn, 1889. 

Forster,  J.  Montgomery. — Memoir  of  Rev.  Joseph  Montgomery.    1879. 

Franklin,  Benjamin. — Proposals  relating  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in 
Pennsylvania.  1 749 . 

Cool  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Situation  of  our  Public  Affairs. 

1764. 

Narrative   of  the   late   Massacres   in    Lancaster   County  of  a 

Number  of  Indians,  friends  of  the  Province.      1764. 

Remarks   on   a  late  protest  against  the  appointment  of  Mr. 

Franklin  as  Agent  for  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.      1764. 

Observations  relative  to  the  intentions  of  the  original  founders 

of  the  Academy  in  Philadelphia.      1789. 

Franklin,  William  Temple. — Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of 
Benjamin  Franklin.  London,  1818. 

"Gentlemen's  Magazine,"  the. 

Gledstone,  James  P. — Life  and  Travels  of  George  Whitefield.  Lon- 
don, 1871. 

Gordon,  Thomas  F. — History  of  Pennsylvania.      1829. 

Graydon,  Alexander. — Memoirs  of  a  Life  chiefly  passed  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. 1811. 

Hildeburn,  Charles  R. — Issues  of  the  Press  in  Pennsylvania.      1886. 

Hopkinson,  Francis. — Errata  on  the  Art  of  Printing  incorrectly  .    .    . 
Examples  taken  from  a  Latin  Grammar  lately  printed,  etc.      Philadelphia, 
1763. 

— The  Psalms  of  David,  etc.,  etc.     For  the  use  of  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  the  City  of  New  York.      New  York,  1766. 

Miscellaneous  Essays  and  Occasional  Writings.      Philadelphia, 

1793- 

Hosack,  David. — Inaugural  Discourse  delivered  at  the  opening  of 
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Jay,  Sir  James. — Letter  to  the  Governors  of  the  College  of  New  York 
respecting  the  Collection  for  the  Colleges  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 
London,  1771. 

Jenkins,  Howard  M. — Family  of  William  Penn.      1899. 


WORKS  REFERRED  To.  7 

Johnson,  Samuel. — Elementa  Philosophica,  containing  chiefly  Noetica 
or  Things  Relating  to  the  Mind  or  Understanding,  etc.  Philadelphia, 

1752. 

American   Annotations  on  Bishop  Berkeley's  Treatise  on  the 

Principles  of  Human  Knowledge. 

Keith,  Charles  P. — The  Provincial  Councillors  of  Pennsylvania.    1883. 

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Krauth,  Charles  V. — Treatise,  etc.,  with  Prolegomena  and  Annota- 
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1 736-' 66. 

Logan,  Deborah. — Penn  and  Logan  Correspondence.      1870. 

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' '  Maryland  Gazette. ' '  The. 

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Mifflin,  John. — History  of  the  Origin,  Progress,  and  Termination  of 
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Morgan,  John.— A  Discourse  upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools 
in  America.  Delivered  at  the  Public  Anniversary  Commencement  held  in 
the  College  of  Philadelphia,  May  30  and  31,  1765.  Philadelphia,  1765. 

Morton,  Thomas  G. — The  History  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
1751-1895.  Philadelphia,  1895. 

Newman,  F.  W. — The  English  Universities,  from  the  German  of  V.  A. 
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Overseers  of  the  Public  School  of  Friends,  Mss.  and  Minutes. 

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"  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography,"  the 

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History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church.      1885. 

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"Royal  Gazette,  The." 

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A  General  Idea  of  the  College  of  Mirania.      1753. 

A  Poem  on  visiting   the  Academy  of  Philadelphia,  June,  1753. 

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I. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  laid  the  first  stone  of  an  institution 
which  was  destined  to  outgrow  in  usefulness  and  in  influence 
any  other  of  the  creations  of  his  fertile  brain,  when  he  announced 
in  a  communication  to  the  printers  of  his  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
which  appeared  on  24  August,  1749,  the  prospectus  of  his 
scheme  for  the  higher  education  of  youth  in  his  adopted  city 
in  the  following  sentences  : 

In  the  settling  of  new  countries,  the  first  care  of  the  planters  must 
be  to  provide  and  secure  the  necessaries  of  life;  this  engrosses  their 
attention,  and  affords  them  little  time  to  think  of  any  thing  farther.  We 
may  therefore  excuse  our  ancestors,  that  they  established  no  ACADEMY 
or  college  in  this  province,  wherein  their  youth  might  receive  a  polite 
and  learned  education.  Agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  were  of  the 
most  immediate  importance  ;  the  culture  of  minds  by  the  finer  arts  and 
sciences,  was  necessarily  postpon'd  to  times  of  more  wealth  and  leisure. 

Since  those  times  are  come,  and  numbers  of  our  inhabitants  are 
both  able  and  willing  to  give  their  sons  a  good  education,  if  it  might  be 
had  at  home,  free  from  the  extraordinary  expence  and  hazard  in  send- 
ing them  abroad  for  that  purpose  ;  and  since  a  proportion  of  men  of 
learning  is  useful  in  every  country,  and  those  who  of  late  years  come  to 
settle  among  us,  are  chiefly  foreigners,  unacquainted  with  our  language, 
laws  and  customs;  it  is  thought  a  proposal  for  establishing  an  ACADEMY 
in  this  province,  will  not  now  be  deemed  unseasonable.  Such  a  pro- 
posal the  publick  may  therefore  shortly  expect.  In  the  meantime,  please 
to  give  the  following  letter  of  the  younger  Pliny  to  Cornelius  Tacitus,*  a 
place  in  your  paper,  as  it  seems  apropos  to  the  design  above  mentioned . 

PLINY  junior  to  CORNELIUS  TACITUS. 

I  Rejoice  that  you  are  safely  arrived  in  Rome ;  for  tho'  I  am  always 
desirous  to  see  you,  I  am  more  particularly  so  now.  I  purpose  to  continue 
a  few  days  longer  at  my  house  in  Jusculum,  in  order  to  finish  a  work 
which  I  have  upon  my  hands:  For  I  am  afraid,  should  I  put  a  stop  to  this 
design,  now  that  it  is  so  nearly  compleated,  I  shall  find  it  difficult  to  resume 
it  In  the  meanwhile,  that  I  may  lose  no  time,  I  send  this  letter  before 
me,  to  request  a  favour  of  you,  which  I  hope  shortly  to  ask  in  person.  But 
before  I  inform  you  what  my  request  is,  I  must  let  you  into  the  occasion  of 


1  See  Melmoth's  Letters  of  Pliny  the  Consul,  Book  IV.  Letter  13.  Franklin's 
Proposals  Relating  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in  Pennsylvania  are  repeated  in  full 
in  Appendix  I. 


12          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

it.  Being  lately  in  Comum,  the  place  of  my  nativity,  a  young  lad,  son  to 
one  of  my  neighbors,  made  me  a  visit.  I  asked  him  whether  he  studied 
oratory  and  where?  He  told  me  he  did,  and  at  Medolianum.2  And  why 
not  here  ?  Because  (said  his  father,  who  came  with  him)  we  have  no  mas- 
ters. ' '  No  !  said  I,  surely  it  nearly  concerns  you,  who  are  fathers  (and 
very  opportunely  several  of  the  company  were  so)  that  your  sons  should 
receive  their  education  here,  rather  than  anywhere  else:  For  where  can 
they  be  placed  more  agreeably  than  in  their  own  country,  or  instructed  with 
more  safety,  and  less  expence,  than  at  home,  and  under  the  eye  of  their 
parents  ?  Upon  what  very  easy  terms  might  you,  by  a  general  contribu- 
tion, procure  proper  masters,  if  you  would  only  apply  towards  the  raising  a 
salary  for  them,  the  extraordinary  expence  it  costs  you  for  your  sons' 
journies,  lodgings,  and  whatsoever  else  you  pay  for  upon  account  of  their 
being  abroad  ;  as  pay  indeed  you  must  in  such  a  case  for  every  thing  ? 
Tho'  I  have  no  children  myself,  yet  I  shall  willingly  contribute  to  a  design 
so  beneficial  to  (what  I  look  upon  as  a  child,  or  a  parent)  my  country  ;  and 
therefore  I  will  advance  a  third  part  of  any  sum  you  shall  think  proper  to 
raise  for  this  purpose.  I  would  take  upon  myself  the  whole  expence,  were 
I  not  apprehensive  that  my  benefaction  might  hereafter  be  abused,  and 
perverted  to  private  ends;  as  I  have  observed  to  be  the  case  in  several 
places  where  publick  foundations  of  this  nature  have  been  established. 
The  single  means  to  prevent  this  mischief  is,  to  have  the  choice  of  the 
masters  entirely  in  the  breast  of  the  parents,  who  will  be  so  much  the  more 
careful  to  determine  properly,  as  they  shall  be  obliged  to  share  the  expence 
of  maintaining  them.  For  tho'  they  may  be  careless  in  disposing  of 
another' s  bounty,  they  will  certainly  be  cautious  how  they  apply  their  own  ; 
and  will  see  that  none  but  those  who  deserve  it  shall  receive  my  money, 
when  they  must  at  the  same  time  receive  theirs  too.  Let  my  example 
then  encourage  you  to  unite  heartily  in  this  useful  design,  and  be  assured, 
the  greater  the  sum  my  share  shall  amount  to,  the  more  agreeable  it  will  be 
to  me.  You  can  undertake  nothing  that  will  be  more  advantageous  to 
your  children,  nor  more  acceptable  to  your  country.  They  will,  by  this 
means,  receive  their  education  where  they  receive  their  birth,  and  be 
accustomed,  from  their  infancy,  to  inhabit  and  affect  their  native  soil. 
May  you  be  able  to  procure  professors  of  such  distinguished  abilities,  that 
the  neighboring  towns  shall  be  glad  to  draw  their  learning  from  hence  ;  and 
as  you  now  send  your  children  to  foreigners  for  education,  may  foreigners 
in  their  turn  flock  hither  for  their  instruction."  I  thought  proper  thus  to 
lay  open  to  you  the  rise  of  this  affair,  that  you  might  be  the  more  sensible 
how  agreeable  it  will  be  to  me,  if  you  undertake  the  office  I  request.  I 
entreat  you,  therefore,  with  all  the  earnestness  a  matter  of  so  much 
importance  deserves,  to  look  out,  amongst  the  great  numbers  of  men  of 

2  Milan. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          13 

letters,  which  the  reputation  of  your  genius  brings  to  you,  proper  persons 
to  whom  we  may  apply  for  this  purpose  ;  but  without  entering  into  any 
agreement  with  them  on  my  part.  For  I  would  leave  it  entirely  free  to  the 
parents  to  judge  and  choose  as  they  shall  see  proper:  All  the  share  I  pre- 
tend to  claim  is,  that  of  contributing  my  care  and  my  money.  If,  there- 
fore, any  one  shall  be  found,  who  thinks  himself  qualified  for  the  under- 
taking, he  may  repair  thither  ;  but  without  relying  upon  anything  but  his 
merit  Farewell. 


II. 

These  proposals  were  the  consummation  of  many  years' 
reflection  over  the  wants  of  the  Province,  which  he  had  made 
his  home,  in  the  matter  of  better  and  larger  educational  facilities, 
for  the  growing  generations.  The  early  settlers  of  Pennsylvania 
had  brought  with  them  the  culture  of  their  home  training,  but 
as  Franklin  expresses  it,  the  demands  of  the  urgent  present  for- 
bade them  laying  preparations  for  a  like  training  to  their  children. 
His  own  native  city  had  as  its  immediate  neighbor  the  town  of 
Cambridge,  where  Harvard  College  had  already  existed  for  one 
hundred  and  twelve  years.  In  its  training  and  its  influence  he 
had  no  share ;  "  his  father,  burdened  with  a  numerous  family, 
was  unable  without  inconvenience  to  support  the  expense  of  a 
college  education,"  he  records  in  his  autobiography.1 

I  was  put  to  the  grammar  school  at  eight  years  of  age  ;  my  father 
intending  to  devote  me,  as  the  tithe  of  his  sons,  to  the  service  of  the 
church.  My  early  readiness  in  learning  to  read  [he  continues],  (which 
must  have  been  very  early,  as  I  do  not  remember  when  I  could  not  read,) 
and  the  opinion  of  all  his  friends,  that  I  should  certainly  make  a  good 
scholar,  encouraged  him  in  this  purpose  of  his.  My  uncle  Benjamin,  too, 
approved  of  it,  and  proposed  to  give  me  all  his  short-hand  volumes  of 
sermons,  I  suppose  as  a  stock  to  set  up  with,  if  I  would  learn  his  charac- 
ter. I  continued,  however,  at  the  grammar  school  not  quite  one  year, 
though  in  that  time  I  had  risen  gradually  from  the  middle  of  the  class  of 


1  Complete  Works  of  Benjamin  Franklin.     John  Higelow,  iSSy.  i    38. 


14          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

that  year  to  be  the  head  of  it,  and  farther  was  removed  into  the  next  class 
above  it  in  order  to  go  with  that  into  the  third  at  the  end  of  the  year.  But 
my  father,  in  the  meantime,  from  a  view  of  the  expense  of  a  college  edu- 
cation, which  having  so  large  a  family  he  could  not  well  afford,  and  the 
mean  living  many  so  educated  were  afterwards  able  to  obtain — reasons 
that  he  gave  to  his  friends  in  my  hearing — altered  his  first  intention,  took 
me  from  the  grammar-school,  and  sent  me  to  a  school  for  writing  and 
arithmetic,  kept  by  a  then  famous  man,  Mr.  George  Brown  ell,  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  profession,  generally,  and  that  by  mild,  encouraging  methods. 
Under  him.  I  acquired  fair  writing  pretty  soon  ;  but  I  failed  in  the  arith- 
metic, and  made  no  progress  in  it.  At  ten  years  old  I  was  taken  home  to 
assist  my  father  in  his  business,  which  was  that  of  a  tallow  chandler  and 
sope-boiler. 

This  is  the  brief  but  expressive  story  of  Franklin's  own 
education,  and  how  Harvard  came  to  lose  another  matriculant 
and  an  alumnus  whose  name  would  have  adorned  its  long  roll 
However,  in  1753,  it  conferred  on  him  the  honor  of  Magis- 
ter  Artium,  as  had  Yale  in  the  same  year,2  and  William  and 
Mary  in  1756.  To  these  degrees  higher  collegiate  honors  were 
bestowed  on  the  man  who  though  not  a  collegian  was  the 
creator  of  a  university,  as  St.  Andrews  in  1759  made  him  Juris 
Utriusque  Doctor,  and  Oxford  in  1762  enrolled  him  as  Juris 
Civilis  Doctor.3  And  yet  the  child  of  his  own  creation  never 
enrolled  his  name  as  the  possessor  of  one  of  its  Degrees. 

For  two  years  he  continued  thus  employed  in  his  father's 


2  "  The  College  of  Cambridge  of  their  own  motion,  presented  me  with  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  Yale  College  in  Connecticut,  had  before  made  me  a  sim- 
ilar compliment.  Thus  without  studying  in  any  college,  I  came  to  partake  of  their 
honours.  They  were  conferred  in  consideration  of  my  improvements  and  discoveries 
in  the  electric  branch  of  natural  philosophy." — Bigelow,  i,  242. 

"Whereas  Benjamin  Franklin  Esquire,  by  his  ingenious  Experiments  and 
Theory  of  Electrical  Fire  has  greatly  merited  of  the  Learned  World :  it  is  therefore 
considered  that  the  said  Benjamin  Franklin  shall  receive  the  Honour  of  a  Degree  of 
Master  of  Arts,"  at  Yale  College  Commencement,  12  September  1753.  v.  Dex- 
ter's  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Graduates  of  Yale  College  with  Annals  of  the  Col- 
lege History,  p.  304. 

3  Oxford  at  the  same  time  conferred  M.  A.  on  his  son  William. — Sparks,  i,  250, 
267.  In  the  same  month  that  his  St.  Andrews  degree  was  conferred,  the  City  of 
Edinburgh  presented  him  with  the  freedom  of  the  city  in  the  following  record  : 
"  Benjamin  Franklin  of  Philadelphia  is  hereby  admitted  a  burgess  and  guild-brother 
of  this  city,  as  a  mark  of  the  affectionate  respect  which  the  Magistrates  and  Council 
have  for  a  gentleman,  whose  amiable  character,  greatly  distinguished  for  usefulness 
to  the  society  which  he  belongs  to,  and  love  to  all  mankind,  had  long  ago  reached 
them  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  i,  251. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          15 

business  ;  but  his  "  bookish  inclination  at  length  determined  his 
father  to  make  him  a  printer  "  though  he  had  already  one  son 
(James)  of  that  profession. 

I  liked  it  much  better  than  that  of  my  father,  but  still  had  a  hanker- 
ing for  the  sea.  To  prevent  the  apprehended  effect  of  such  an  inclination, 
my  father  was  impatient  to  have  me  bound  to  my  brother.  I  stood  out 
some  time,  but  at  last  was  persuaded,  and  signed  the  indenture,  when  I  was 
but  twelve  years  old.  His  father's  little  library  consisted  chiefly  of  books 
in  polemic  divinity,  most  of  which  I  read.  *  *  *  Plutarch's  Lives 
there  was,  in  which  I  read  abundantly,  and  I  still  think  that  time  spent  to 
great  advantage.  I  now  had  access  to  better  books.  An  acquaintance 
with  the  apprentices  of  booksellers  enabled  me  sometimes  to  borrow  a  small 
one,  which  I  was  careful  to  return  soon,  and  clean.  Often  I  sat  up  in  my 
room  reading  the  greatest  part  of  the  night,  when  the  book  was  borrowed 
in  the  evening  and  to  be  returned  early  in  the  morning,  lest  it  should  be 
missed  or  wanting.  [He  became  intimately  acquainted  with]  another  book- 
ish lad  in  the  town,  John  Collins  by  name,  with  whom  I  was  intimately 
acquainted.  *  *  *  About  this  time  I  met  with  an  odd  volume  of  the 
Spectator.  It  was  the  third.  I  had  never  before  seen  any  of  them .  I 
bought  it,  read  it  over  and  over,  and  was  much  delighted  with  it  I 
thought  the  writing 4  excellent,  and  wished  if  possible  to  imitate  it 

But  his  apprenticeship  to  his  brother,  notwithstanding  all 
these  waysides  of  literary  pleasure  and  self  education  was  made 
irksome  to  him  ;  either  his  brother's  tyranny  or  jealousy,  per- 
haps both,  oppressed  his  ingenious  energy,  and  he  sought  means 
to  leave  him  and  he  says  : 

I  was  sensible  that  if  I  attempted  to  go  openly,  means  would  be  used 
to  prevent  me.  My  friend  Collins  therefore  undertook  to  manage  a  little 
for  me.  He  agreed  with  the  Captain  of  a  New  York  sloop  for  my  passage 
*  *  *  So  I  sold  some  of  my  books  to  raise  a  little  money,  was  taken  on 
board  privately,  and  as  we  had  a  fair  wind,  in  three  days  I  found  myself  in 
New  York,  near  300  miles  from  home,  a  boy  of  but  17,  without  the  least 
recommendation  to  or  knowledge  of,  any  person  in  5  the  place,  and  with 
very  little  money  in  my  pocket.  Here,  [he  says,]  I  offered  my  service  to 
the  printer  in  that  place  old  Mr.  William  Bradford,  who  had  been  the  first 
printer  in  Pennsylvania,  removed  from  thence  upon  the  quarrel  of  George 
Keith.  He  could  give  me  no  employment,  having  little  to  do,  and  help 
enough  already,  but  says  he  :  My  son  at  Philadelphia  has  lately  lost  his 
principal  hand,  Aquila  Rose,  by  death  ;  if  you  go  thither  I  believe  he  may 
employ  you.6 

4  Bigelow,  i.  45,  47.  •  Ibid,  i.  57.  6  Ibid,  i.  58. 


1 6          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

And  the  young  Bostonian  at  once  set  out  on  his  way  to 
the  city  where  he  made  his  home  the  remainder  of  his  long  and 
eventful  life,  and  which  in  its  oldest  institutions,  whether  of  phil- 
anthropy, of  benevolence,  of  education,  of  science,  or  of  busi- 
ness, testifies  to  his  genius  of  organization  and  his  fertility  of 
resources. 


III. 

The  story  of  Franklin's  landing  in  Philadelphia  on  that 
October  Sunday  morning  in  1723,  the  same  day  in  the  week 
when  in  1706  he  first  drew  breath  in  Boston,  is  well  known  but 
always  interesting.  His  walk  up  Market  Street,  with  his  three 
penny  worth  of  rolls,  "  with  a  roll  under  each  arm  and  eating 
the  other,"  and  back  by  Chestnut  and  Walnut  Streets  to  the 
place  of  the  landing,  "to  which  I  went  for  a  draught  of  the 
river  water,  where  being  filled  with  one  of  my  rolls,  gave  the 
other  two  to  a  woman  and  her  child  that  came  down  the  river 
with  us,  and  were  waiting  to  go  farther." 

Thus  refreshed,  I  walked  ngain  up  the  street  which  by  this  time  had 
many  clean-dressed  people  in  it,  who  were  all  walking  the  same  way.  I  joined 
them,  and  thereby  was  led  into  the  great  meeting  of  the  Quakers  near  the 
market  I  sat  down  among  them,  and  after  looking  round  awhile  and 
hearing  nothing  said,  being  very  drowsy  thro"  labor  and  want  of  rest  the 
preceding  night,  I  fell  fast  asleep,  and  continued  so  till  the  meeting  broke 
up,  when  one  was  kind  enough  to  rouse  me.  This  was  therefore,  the  first 
house  I  was  in,  or  slept  in,  in  Philadelphia.1 

It  was  a  notable  day  in  the  annals  of  our  city  in  which 
Franklin  was  introduced  to  it,  and  the  simple  story  in  his  own 
inimitable  phrases  seems  ever  to  renew  an  interest  in  its  perusal. 
He  wrote  this  narrative  nearly  half  a  century  afterwards,  but  the 
vividness  of  his  memory  brought  up  to  his  mind  the  quaint 

1  Bigelow,  i.  63. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.          17 

scenes  of  that  day,  and  the  tale  is  told  us  as  freshly  as  if  written 
at  the  time. 

On  Monday  morning  he  reported  bright  and  early  at 
Andrew  Bradford's,  and  he  tells  us  he  there  "  found  in  the  shop 
the  old  man,  his  father,  whom  I  had  seen  at  New  York,  and 
who,  traveling  on  horseback,  had  got  to  Philadelphia  before  me. 
He  introduced  me  to  his  son,  who  received  me  civilly,  gave 
me  a  breakfast,  but  told  me  he  did  not  at  present  want  a  hand." 
William  Bradford  undertook  to  introduce  him  to  the  "  new 
printer,  lately  set  up,  one  Keimer  "  who  "  not  discovering  that  he 
was  the  other  printer's  father,"  babbled  about  his  plans  and  said 
"  he  expected  soon  to  get  the  greatest  part  of  the  business  into 
his  own  hands,"  whereat  Bradford  "drew  him  on  by  artful 
questions  and  starting  little  doubts  "  to  tell  more  of  his 
plans,  and  Franklin  "who  stood  by  and  heard  all,  saw  im- 
mediately that  one  of  them  was  a  crafty  old  sophister,  and  the 
other  a  mere  novice."  2  He  lodged  at  Bradford's  the  while 
helping  Keimer  and  doing  small  jobs  for  the  former.  But  this 
first  interview  laid  the  seeds  of  the  distrust  between  him  and 
that  family  which  was  fostered  in  subsequent  years  by  his  suc- 
cessful opposition  and  intensified  by  later  political  controversies. 

By  promises  from  Sir  William  Keith,  whose  duplicit 
character  he  had  yet  to  find  out,  he  engaged  to  go  to  England 
to  purchase  printing  apparatus  wherewith  to  furnish  a  great 
establishment  in  Philadelphia;  and  in  November  1724  he  sailed 
thither,  only  to  find  the  Governor's  promises  utterly  worthless ; 
he  remained  in  London,  working  as  best  he  might  at  his  trade, 
and  by  October  1726  he  was  again  in  Philadelphia.  For  a 
young  man  who  had  not  yet  attained  his  majority,  this  was  an 
education  which  not  alone  developed  his  self  reliance  but  also 
added  knowledge  as  well  as  experience  to  his  stock  of  weapons 
wherewith  to  continue  his  battle  with  life. 

In  the  year  following  he  tells  us  he  "  form'd  most  of  my 
ingenious  acquaintances  into  a  club  of  mutual  improvement, 
which  we  called  the  JUNTO."  3  These  were  Joseph  Brientnal, 

2  Bigelow,  i.  64.  3  Ibid,  i.  141. 


1 8         HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

a  scrivener ;  Thomas  Godfrey,  the  mathematician ;  Nicholas 
Scull,  a  surveyor  ;  William  Parsons,  afterwards  surveyor  general ; 
William  Maugridge,4  "joiner,  but  a  most  exquisite  mechanic;" 
Hugh  Meredith,5  "a  Welsh  Pennsylvanian,  thirty  years  of  age, 
bred  to  country  work,"  and  afterwards  his  partner  for  twelve  years 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  ;  Stephen  Potts,  "  a  young  country- 
man of  full  age,  of  uncommon  natural  parts,  and  great  wit  and 
humor,  but  a  little  idle  ;  "  George  Webb,  "an  Oxford  scholar  ; " 
Robert  Grace,  "  a  young  gentleman  of  some  fortune,  generous, 
lively  and  witty;  "  and  lastly,  <l  William  Coleman,  then  a  mer- 
chant's clerk,  about  my  age,  who  had  the  coolest,  clearest  head, 
the  best  heart,  and  the  exactest  morals,  of  almost  any  man  I 
ever  met  with.  He  became  afterwards  a  merchant  of  great  note, 
and  one  of  our  provincial  judges,"  who  also  became  one  of  the 
original  trustees  of  the  Academy  and  College  in  1749,  and 
remained  Franklin's  most  faithful  coadjutor  in  this  work  until 
his  death  in  1769. 

The  Club  continued  almost  as  long,  and  was  the  best  school  of 
philosophy,  morality,  and  politics,  that  then  existed  in  the  province  ;  for 
our  queries,  which  were  read  the  week  preceding  their  discussion,  put  us 
upon  reading  with  attention  upon  the  several  subjects,  that  we  might  speak 
more  to  the  purpose  ;  and  here,  too,  we  acquired  better  habits  of  conver- 
sation, everything  being  studied  in  our  rules,  which  might  prevent  us 
disgusting  each  other.6 

From  this  quiet  but  influential  centre  grew  in  1743  the 
institution  of  the  first  American  Philosophical  Society  of  which 
Thomas  Hopkinson  was  the  first  President,  which  had  not  long 
existence,  but  was  revived  again  by  the  greater  organization  of 
1769,  with  Benjamin  Franklin  as  its  first  President,  though  he 
was  at  the  time  absent  in  London  representing  his  adopted 
province.  Thus  early  did  this  young  man  display  and  exercise 
his  rare  leadership,  and  attract  to  his  side  men  of  thought  and 
ideas ;  for  one  but  twenty-two  years  of  age  to  secure  the 
attention  of  men,  mostly  his  seniors,  to  weekly  meetings  for  the 
discussion  of  useful  and  informing  topics,  indicates  as  great  an 
instance  as  any  displayed  by  him  in  later  years  of  his  strong 

4  A  Vestryman  of  Christ  Church  in  1742  and  again  in  1744. 
5Bigelow,  i.  131.  6  Ibid,  i.  143. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.          19 

executive  ability,  and  his  wonderful  powers  of  attraction  among 
all  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  any  enterprise.  We  dwell 
upon  the  great  affairs  of  those  later  years  in  which  he  had  such 
a  directing  hand,  but  these  peculiar  characteristics  of  his  were 
being  developed  and  matured  a  half  century  before  the  historian 
of  his  country  devotes  his  pages  to  his  later  works.  Franklin's 
accounts  of  all  these  matters  is  as  engaging  as  it  is  frank  ;  and 
it  is  this  same  frankness  which  also  gives  us  that  other  and 
more  human  side  of  his  early  life  in  which  occur  those  youthful 
follies  and  misdoings  which  seemed  to  have  furnished  his 
enemies  with  their  most  pointed  weapons. 


IV 

In  1728  he  made  a  partnership  with  his  friend  Meredith  for 
the  extension  of  his  printing  business,  and  soon  thought  of 
establishing  a  paper. 

My  hopes  of  success,  as  I  told  him,  [his  narrative  proceeds],  were 
founded  on  this  :  that  the  then  only  newspaper,  printed  by  Bradford,  was 
a  paltry  thing,  wretchedly  managed,  no  way  entertaining,  and  yet  was 
profitable  to  him  ;  I  therefore  thought  a  good  paper  would  scarcely  fail  of 
good  encouragement.1  [But  his  scheme  getting  to  the  ears  of  his  old 
employer,  Keimer,  the  latter  began  a  paper]  ;  and,  after  carrying  it  on  three 
quarters  of  a  year,  with  at  most  only  ninety  subscribers,  he  offered  it  me 
for  a  trifle  ;  and  I,  having  been  ready  some  time  to  go  on  with  it,  took  it  in 
hand  directly,  and  it  proved  in  a  few  years  extremely  profitable  to  me. 

He  now  called  the  paper  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  and  his 
first  number  was  issued  2  October,  1729.  He  says  : 

Our  first  papers  made  quite  a  different  appearance  from  any  before 
in  the  province  ;  a  better  type,  and  better  printed.  *  *  *  Our  number 
[of  subscribers]  went  on  growing  continually.  This  was  one  of  the  first 
good  effects  of  my  having  learned  a  little  to  scribble  ;  another  was  that  the 
leading  men,  seeing  a  newspaper  now  in  the  hands  of  one  who  could  also 

'Higelow,  i.  145. 


2O          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

handle  a  pen,  thought  it  convenient  to  oblige  and  encourage  me  *  *  *  * 
Bradford  had  printed  an  address  of  the  House  to  the  Governor,  in  a  coarse, 
blundering  manner  ;  we  reprinted  it  elegantly  and  correctly,  and  sent  one 
to  every  member.  They  were  sensible  of  the  difference  ;  it  strengthened 
the  hands  of  our  friends  in  the  House,  and  they  voted  us  their  printers  for 
the  year  ensuing. 3 

And  this  was  the  work  of  a  young  Printer  who  was  his  own 
Editor  and  only  twenty-three  years  of  age.  Modern  times 
record  no  instances  of  greater  ingenuity  and  industry. 

The  Junto  in  1731  afforded  Franklin  thoughts  of  another 
scheme  ;  he  says 3 

By  clubbing  our}  books  to  a  common  library,  we  should,  while  we 
lik'  d  to  keep  them  ^together,  have  each  of  us  the  advantage  of  using  the 
books  of  all  the  other  members,  which  would  be  nearly  as  beneficial  as  if 
each  owned  the  whole  :  *  *  *  yet  some  inconveniences  occurring  for  want 
of  due  care  of  them,  the  collection  after  about  a  year  was  separated  ;  and  each 
took  his  books  home  again.  And  now  I  set  on  foot  my  first  project  of  a 
public  nature,  that  for  a  subscription  library.  I  drew  up  the  proposals,  got 
them  put  into  form  by  our  great  scrivener,  Brockden,  and  by  the  help  of 
my  friends  in  the  Junto,  procured  fifty  subscribers  of  forty  shillings  each  to 
begin  with,  and  ten  shillings  a  year  for  fifty  years,  the  term  our  company 
was  to  continue.  *  *  this  was  the  mother  of  all  the  North  American  sub- 
scription libraries,  now  so  numerous.  These  libraries  have  improved  the 
general  conversation  of  the  Americans,  made  the  common  tradesmen  and 
farmers  as  intelligent  as  most  gentlemen  from  other  countries,  and  perhaps 
have  contributed  in  some  degree  to  the  stand  so  generally  made  throughout 
the  colonies  in  defence  of  their  privileges. 

He  writes  this  in  1771  in  the  dawn  of  our  great  struggle,  of 
his  co-directors  in  the  institution  of  the  Library  Company  of 
Philadelphia  on  I  July  1731.  Thomas  Hopkinson,  Philip  Syng, 
arid  Thomas  Cadwalader,  became  also  his  co-trustees  eighteen 
years  later  in  the  Academy  and  College,  and  his  faithful  friend 
William  Coleman  was  elected  Treasurer.  This  Company  attracted 
to  itself  in  later  years  the  testamentary  gift  to  the  public  of  the  fine 
private  library  of  James  Logan  whose  knowledge  and  judgment 
had  been  consulted  by  Franklin  in  the  first  selection  of  books 
for  their  shelves.  The  oldest  public  library  in  the  country  owes 
its  inception  and  planting  to  a  young  man  but  twenty-five  years 

5Bigelow,  i.  149.  3ibid,  i.  159. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          21 

of  age.  In  1784  Franklin  records,4  "this  library  afforded  me 
the  means  of  improvement  by  constant  study,  for  which  I  set 
apart  an  hour  or  two  each  day ;  and  thus  repaired  in  some 
degree  the  loss  of  the  learned  education  my  father  once  intended 
for  me."  He  was  looking  backward  nigh  fourscore  years  to  his 
native  city,  and  the  "learned  education  "  he  might  have  attained 
to  on  the  banks  of  the  Charles  River.  With  what  great  satisfac- 
tion he  must  have  contemplated  the  great  institution  for  learning 
he  had  launched  eighteen  years  after  his  Library  scheme  had 
been  consummated. 

It  was  in  1731  that  he  took  part  in  the  formation  of  St. 
John's  Lodge  in  Philadelphia,  so  far  as  known,  the  earliest  estab- 
lished Masonic  Lodge  in  America.  In  this  interesting  associa- 
tion he  had  the  fellowship  of  his  co-trustees  William  Allen, 
Thomas  Hopkinson,  James  Hamilton,  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  Will- 
iam Plumsted,  Philip  Syng  and  Dr.  Cadwalader.5  Franklin  was 
on  a  Committee  appointed  "to  consider  of  the  present  State  of 
the  Lodge  and  of  the  properest  Methods  to  improve  it,"  and 
the  Committee's  report  of  5  June,  1732,  is  in  his  handwriting. 
He  was  Junior  Grand  Warden  of  Pennsylvania  that  year,  was 
Grand  Master  in  1734  and  again  in  1749,  and  Deputy  Grand 
Master  from  175010  1755. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  following  Franklin  first  published 
his  Poor  Richard 's  Almanac,  which  was  continued  about  twenty- 
five  years.  This,  he  tells  us,  he  "endeavoured  to  make  both 
entertaining  and  useful,  and  it  accordingly  came  to  be  in  such 
demand,  that  I  reaped  considerable  profit  from  it ;  vending 
annually  near  ten  thousand."6  It  was  announced  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette  of  19  December,  1732,  and  such  was  the  eager- 


4  Bigelow,  i.  170 

5  It  was  in  the  latter's  letter  to  Henry  Bell  of  Lancaster  of  17  November,  1754, 
we  find  him  saying:    "As  you  well  know  I  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  first 
Masonic  Lodge  in  Philadelphia.     A  party   of  us  used  to  meet  at  the  Tree  Tavern  in 
Water  Street,  and  sometimes  opened  a  Lodge  there.     Once,  in  the  fall  of  1750,  we 
formed  a  design  of  obtaining  a  Charter  for  a  regular  Lodge,  and  made  application  to 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  England  for  one,  but  before  receiving  it,  we  heard  that  Daniel 
Coxe,  of  New  Jersey,  had  been  appointed  by  that  Grand  Lodge  as  Provincial  Master 
of  New  York,   New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.     We,  therefore,  made  application  to 
him,  and  our  request  was  granted:"  vide  The  Keystone,  15  October,  1887. 

'Bigelow,  i.  192 


22          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ness  with  which  it  was  sought  that  three  editions  were  printed 
before  the  end  of  January. 

But  his  prosperous  business  did  not  keep  pace  with  his  in- 
satiate desire  for  knowledge,  and  to  open  new  channels  he  "  had 
begun,"  he  says, 

in  1732  to  study  languages  ;  I  soon  made  myself  so  much  a  master  of  the 
French,  as  to  be  able  to  read  the  books  with  ease.  I  then  undertook  the 
Italian.  An  acquaintance,  who  was  also  learning  it,  us'd  often  to  tempt 
me  to  play  chess  with  him.  Finding  this  took  up  too  much  of  the  time  I 
had  to  spare  for  study,  I  at  length  refused  to  play  any  more  unless  on  this 
condition,  that  the  victor  in  every  game  should  have  a  right  to  impose  a 
task,  either  in  parts  of  the  grammar  to  be  got  by  heart,  or  in  translations, 
etc,  which  tasks  the  vanquish'd  was  to  perform4  upon  honour  before  our 
next  meeting.  As  we  play'd  pretty  equally,  we  thus  beat  one  another  into 
that  language.  I  afterwards,  with  a  little  pains-taking,  acquired  as  much 
of  the  Spanish  as  to  read  their  books  also.  I  have  already  mention' d  that 
I  had  only  one  year' s  instruction  in  a  Latin  school,  and  that  when  very 
young,  after  which  I  neglected  that  language  entirely.  But,  when  I  had 
attained  an  acquaintance  with  the  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish,  I  was  sur- 
pris'd  to  find,  in  looking  over  a  Latin  Testament,  that  I  understood  so 
much  more  of  that  language  than  I  had  imagined,  which  encouraged  me  to 
apply  myself  again  to  the  study  of  it,  and  I  met  with  more  success,  as  those 
preceding  languages  had  greatly  smooth' d  my  way.7 

His  ambition  ever  to  learn  was  well  sustained  by  his  incom- 
parable energy  and  self-denial. 


7  Bigelow,  i.  198 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         23 


V 

In  1736  he  sought  entrance  into  public  life,  the  better  to 
further  his  favoring  fortunes,  and  he  was  chosen  clerk  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  October  of  that  year,1  "  for  which  office 
he  petitioned  the  House  in  succession  to  Joseph  Growden." 
Governor  Gordon  had  died  in  the  summer,  and  James  Logan  as 
President  of  the  Council  became  the  head  of  the  Provincial  gov- 
ernment until  the  arrival  of  Governor  Thomas  two  years  later. 
This  doubtless  was  the  influence  that  secured  what  Franklin 
terms  "  my  first  promotion."  He,  as  usual,  makes  no  secret  of 
the  reasons  for  his  wishing  the  office  : 

besides  the  pay  for  the  immediate  service  as  clerk,  the  place  gave  me  a 
better  opportunity  of  keeping  up  an  interest  among  the  members,  which 
secured  to  me  the  business  of  printing  the  votes,  laws,  paper  money,  and 
other  occasional  jobbs  for  the  public,  that,  on  the  whole  were  very  profitable. 

He  was  annually  chosen  to  this  office  for  fourteen  years, 
and  herein  he  trained  himself  for  his  later  political  life.  It  was 
but  at  thirty  years  of  age  this  native  of  a  northern  province 
attained  to  this  important  position,  and  without  contradiction  ; 
but  his  second  term  was  not  reached  without  opposition,  which 
arose 

from  a  new  member  in  order  to  favor  some  other  candidate.  *  *  *  He 
was  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  education,  with  talents  that  were  likely  to 
give  him  in  time  great  influence  in  the  House  which  indeed  afterwards 
happened. 

But  Franklin  won  in  the  contest  and  later  placated  this 
member  by  one  of  those  clever  strokes  of  ingenuity  which  he 
often  exercised  successfully  to  divert  enmities  ;  and  when  record- 
ing the  story  concludes  by  saying  this  "shows  how  much  more 
profitable  it  is  prudently  to  remove,  than  to  resent,  return,  and 
continue  inimical  proceedings :  he  ever  after  manifested  a  readi- 
ness to  serve  me  on  all  occasions,  so  that  we  became  great  friends, 
and  our  friendship  continued  to  his  death."  2 

In  October  of  the  following  year,  1737,  he  was  appointed 

1  Bigelow,  i.  201.  Proud,  ii.  215,  note.  2  Bigelow,  i.  202. 


24          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

postmaster  by  Colonel  Spotswood,  formerly  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia and  now  postmaster  general,  succeeding  his  competitor  in 
business,  Andrew  Bradford,  who  had  been  postmaster  since 
1725  and  who  was  now  removed  for  reasons  affecting  his  lack 
of  care  and  exactness  in  framing  and  rendering  his  accounts. 
He  tells  us, 

I  accepted  it  readily,  and  found  it  of  great  advantage  ;  for,  though  the 
salary  was  small,  it  facilitated  the  correspondence  that  improv'd  my  news- 
paper, increas'd  the  number  demanded,  as  well  as  the  advertisements  to 
be  inserted,  so  that  it  came  to  afford  me  a  considerable  income.  But,  [he 
adds,]  my  old  competitor's  newspaper  declined  proportionably,  and  I  was 
satisfy' d  without  retaliating  his  refusal,  while  postmaster,  to  permit  my 
papers  being  carried  by  the  riders. 

This  appointment  was  unwelcome  to  Bradford  and  his 
friends  and  warmed  into  life  animosities  which  bore  fruit  in  later 
years. 

With  these  two  public  offices  in  hand,  Franklin  tells  us,3  "  I 
began  now  to  turn  my  thoughts  a  little  to  public  affairs,  begin- 
ning however  with  small  matters."  The  city  watch  was  reformed 
by  the  suggestions  he  made  and  the  measures  he  succeeded  in 
consummating  aided  by  the  influence  of  his  friends  of  the  Junto. 
Fire  prevention  as  well  exercised  his  thoughts,  and  he  wrote  a 
paper,  first  read  in  the  junto  and  afterwards  published, 
on  the  different  accidents  and  carelessnesses  by  which  houses  were  set  on 
fire.  This  gave  rise  to  a  project,  which  soon  followed  it,  of  forming  a  com- 
pany for  the  more  ready  extinguishing  of  fires,  and  mutual  assistance  in 
removing  and  securing  of  goods  when  in  danger.  Associates  in  this  scheme 
were  presently  found,  amounting  to  thirty. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Union  Fire  Company,  established 
7  December,  1736,  the  first  fire  company  in  Philadelphia.4 

The  utility  of  this  institution  soon  appeared,  and  many  more  desiring 
to  be  admitted  than  we  thought  convenient  for  one  company,  they  were 
advised  to  form  another,  which  was  accordingly  done  ;  and  this  went  on, 
one  new  company  being  formed  after  another,  till  they  became  so  numer- 
ous as  to  include  most  of  the  inhabitants  who  were  men  of  property. 
The  author  of  these  practical  reforms  had  not  passed  beyond 
his  thirty-first  year,  yet  he  exhibited  the  skill  and  experience, 
and  exerted  the  influence  on  his  fellow  citizens,  of  a  man  of  three- 
score. 

3  Bigelow,  i.  203.  4Ibid,  i.  205 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         25 


VI 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1739  there  arrived  in  Philadelphia, 
on  his  way  to  his  Parish  and  Orphanage  at  Savannah,  the  Rev. 
George  Whitefield,  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  the 
fame  of  whose  extraordinary  pulpit  powers  had  preceded  him, 
though  he  was  a  young  man  but  twenty-four  years  of  age.1 
Two  days  after  his  arrival,  on  Sunday  4th  November  he  preached 
in  Christ  Church,  and  read  prayers  there  and  preached  daily  for 
a  week.  Departing  for  New  York  on  the  I2th,  where  he  was 
not  allowed  to  preach  in  Trinity  Church,  though  he  attended 
both  the  Sunday  services  ;  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  on  the 
23d  and  departed  thence  on  the  29th  for  the  South,  having 
preached  daily  in  Christ  Church,  though  on  his  return  in  the 
April  following  he  was  inhibited  from  holding  any  service  or 
preaching  there.  Franklin  in  common  with  every  citizen  was 
attracted  by  his  eloquence,  and  he  formed  a  friendship  for  the 
young  divine,  who  was  eight  years  his  junior,  which  continued 
until  his  death,  when  he  wrote  to  a  friend  "  I  knew  him  inti- 
mately upwards  of  thirty  years.  His  integrity,  disinterested- 
ness, and  indefatigable  zeal  in  prosecuting  every  good  work,  I 
have  never  seen  equalled,  and  shall  never  see  excelled." 2 
Doubtless  Franklin  was  present  at  that  remarkable  scene  in 
Christ  Church  on  Sunday  the  25th  November  when  his  friend 
the  Rev.  Richard  Peters  stood  up  and  controverted  some  of 
Whitefield's  new  doctrines,  which  the  latter  manfully  answered, 
though  his  Journal  records  he  "  had  been  somewhat  alarmed  " 
at  the  disturbance  which  this  public  contradiction  threatened. 
Before  the  month  was  out  Whitefield  gave  Franklin  copies  of 
his  Journals  and  sermons  with  leave  to  print  the  same.  Andrew 

1  He  was  ordained  in  Gloucester  Cathedral  13  June  1736,  and  first  preached  on 
the  Sunday  following.  "  A  complaint  was  made  to  the  Bishop  that  fifteen  persons 
had  been  driven  mad  by  his  sermon.  The  bishop  only  replied  that  he  hoped  the 
madness  might  not  be  forgotten  before  another  Sunday.  *  *  *  *  How  his  one 
sermon  grew  till  he  had  preached  eighteen  thousand  times,  or  ten  times  a  week  for 
four  and  thirty  years,  and  fed  multitudes  beyond  computation."  Gledstone's  Life 
and  Travels  of  George  WhitcfielJ,  M.A.,  p  36.  London  1871. 

7  Life  of  Rev  George  Whitefield^  Tyerman.  ii  628.  London  1876.  Life  and 
Times  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  Parton,  i.  626. 


26          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Bradford  printed  some  sermons  and  letters,  but  those  under- 
taken by  Franklin  were  by  authority ;  in  his  journal  of  28 
November  he  records,  "  One  of  the  printers  has  told  me  he  has 
taken  above  two  hundred  subscriptions  for  printing  my  Sermons 
and  Journals."  3  Franklin  says,  "  we  had  no  religious  connec- 
tion. He  us'd,  indeed,  sometimes  to  pray  for  my  conversion, 
but  never  had  the  satisfaction  of  believing  that  his  prayers  were 
heard.  Ours  was  a  mere  civil  friendship,  sincere  on  both  sides, 
and  lasted  to  his  death."  4 

As  the  extent  of  Whitefield's  audiences  forbad  their  accom- 
modation in  any  of  the  churches,  and  the  inhibition  by  the  Rec- 
tor preventing  in  1740  and  in  his  subsequent  visits  his  use  of 
Christ  Church,  which  was  then  indeed  but  one  half  the  size  as 
we  now  know  it,  measures  were  taken  to  procure  him  a  proper 
building  for  his  preachings  ;  "it  being  found  inconvenient  to 
assemble  in  the  open  air,"  Franklin  says5 

subject  to  its  inclemencies,  the  building  of  a  house  to  meet  in  was 
no  sooner  proposed,  and  persons  appointed  to  receive  contributions,  but 
sufficient  sums  were  soon  receiv'  d  to  procure  the  ground,  and  erect  the 
building,  which  was  one  hundred  feet  long  and  seventy  broad,  about  the 
size  of  Westminster  Hall,  and  the  work  was  carried  on  with  such  spirit 
as  to  be  finished  in  a  much  shorter  time  than  could  have  been  expected. 
Both  house  and  ground  were  vested  in  trustees  expressly  for  the  use  of  any 
preacher  of  any  religious  persuasion,  who  might  desire  to  say  something 
to  the  people  at  Philadelphia. 

Franklin  was  foremost  in  the  work  as  he  was  in  any  matter 
he  undertook  and  contributed  of  his  means  to  it,  though  he  was 
not  one  of  the  Trustees  until  1749  when  the  property  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  new  born  Academy.  On  Sunday,  9 
November,  1740,  Whitefield  records  in  his  Journal,  "Preached 
in  the  morning,  to  several  thousands,  in  a  house  built  since  my 
last  departure  from  Philadelphia.  It  was  never  preached  in 
before.  The  roof  is  not  yet  up  ;  but  the  people  raised  a  con- 
venient pulpit,  and  boarded  the  bottom."  The  oft  told  tale  can 
bear  repetition  in  this  connection  of  the  influence  of  White- 


3  Tyerman,  i.  337. 

4  Bigelow,  i.  209,  also  letter  quoted  by  Dr  Sprague  from  Rev  Jotham  Sewell,  in 
Annals  of  Episcopal  Pulpit,  107.  5  Bigelow,  i.  206. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         27 

field's  oratory  on  Franklin  himself.  He  attended  in  April,  1740, 
one  of  Whitefield's  meetings  where  he  preached  of  his  Orphan- 
age, the  location  of  which  did  not  meet  Franklin's  approval,  as6 
Georgia  was  then  destitute  of  materials  and  workmen,  and  it  was  proposed 
to  send  them  from  Philadelphia  at  a  great  expense.  I  thought  it  would  have 
been  better  to  have  built  the  house  here,  and  brought  the  children  to  it. 
This  I  advis'd  ;  but  he  was  resolute  in  his  first  project,  rejected  my  counsel, 
and  I,  therefore,  refus'd  to  contribute.  I  happened  soon  after  to  attend 
one  of  his  sermons,  in  the  course  of  which  I  perceived  he  intended  to  finish 
with  a  collection,  and  I  silently  resolved  he  should  get  nothing  from  me. 
I  had,  in  my  pocket,  a  handful  of  copper  money,  three  or  four  silver  dol- 
lars, and  five  pistoles  in  gold.  As  he  proceeded  I  began  to  soften,  and 
concluded  to  give  the  coppers.  Another  stroke  of  his  oratory  made  me 
asham'd  of  that,  and  determin'd  me  to  give  the  silver  ;  and  he  finished 
so  admirably,  that  I  empty 'd  my  pocket  wholly  into  the  collectors  dish, 
gold  and  all. 


VII 

Franklin's  trusteeship  in  this  property  in  1749  rendered  the 
plan  effectual  then  proposed  of  making  the  building  the  first 
home  of  his  College  and  Academy  ;  but  for  this  happy  instru- 
mentality the  young  College  would  probably  not  for  many  years 
have  had  a  home  of  its  own  so  well  adapted  for  its  purposes. 
Built  for  the  accommodation  of  the  greatest  preacher  of  the 
day,  it  became  the  Academy  where  the  greatest  teacher  in  the 
province,  also  a  clergyman  in  like  orders,  established  his  fame  as 
a  Provost  and  nurtured  into  permanence  the  reputation  of  his 
College.  In  1764  Whitefield  himself  wrote  of  the  Academy  as 
"  one  of  the  best  regulated  institutions  in  the  world,"  after 
preaching  on  the  opening  of  a  new  term  of  the  College  in  Sep- 
tember.1 He  was  in  Philadelphia  the  following  spring,  and  Dr. 
Smith  asked  him  to  preach  at  the  Commencement  of  1765,  but 

6  Bigelow,  i.  208.  '  Tyertnan,  ii.  477. 


28          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

he  had  been  obliged  to  leave  town  a  few  days  before  for  New 
York  to  embark  thence  for  England.2  His  last  visit  to  Philadel- 
phia was  in  May,  1770,  when  he  writes  in  his  Journal,  24  May, 
"to  all  the  Episcopal  Churches,  as  well  as  to  most  of  the 
other  places  of  worship,  I  have  free  access;"  and  on  30 
September  following  he  died  in  Newburyport,  where  lie  his 
remains.3 

The  friendship  between  these  two  remarkable  men  was 
begun  by  some  common  attraction  the  one  for  the  other  and  con- 
tinued through  life  unbroken,  though  their  views  on  the  deepest 
thoughts  of  humanity  were  so  diverse.  Such  affinities  are  often 
witnessed,  though  the  link  is  so  subtle  as  to  be  undefinable.  The 
one  a  Deist  whose  time  was  given  to  material  things  and  his 
thoughts  to  the  development  of  human  knowledge,  the  other  a 
warm  believer  in  divine  revelation  and  a  burning  preacher  of  the 
message  which  he  claimed  to  have  received  ;  yet  there  was 
somewhat  between  them  of  sympathy  and  of  a  mutual  under- 
standing, which  bound  them  to  each  other  in  a  common  respect 
and  appreciation  of  each  other's  earnestness  and  reality.  White- 
field's  concern  for  his  older  friend  manifested  itself  afterwards  in 
many  ways.  He  writes  to  him  26  November  1 740,  on  his  way 
to  Savannah  after  their  first  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  about  his 
publications,  and  could  not  conclude  without  saying  "  I  do  not 
despair  of  your  seeing  the  reasonableness  of  Christianity.  Apply 
to  GOD  ;  be  willing  to  do  the  divine  will,  and  you  shall  know 
it."4  And  on 'i 7  August,  1752,  he  writes  him5 : 

I  find  that  you  grow  more  and  more  famous  in  the  learned  world.  As 
you  have  made  a  pretty  considerable  progress  in  the  mysteries  of  electricity, 
I  would  now  humbly  recommend  to  your  diligent  unprejudiced  pursuit  and 
study  the  mystery  of  the  new  birth.  It  is  a  most  important,  interesting 
study,  and  when  mastered,  will  richly  answer  and  repay  you  for  all  your 
pains.  One  hath  solemnly  declared,  that  without  it,  "we  cannot  enter 
the  kingdom  of  heaven."  You  will  excuse  this  freedom.  I  must  have 


2  Penna.  Gazette.     Tyerman,  ii.  484. 

3  Tyerman,     ii.  589.      William  White  writes  from  Philadelphia  9  October, 
1770,  to  his  friend  James  Wilson  at  Carlisle,  "  P.  S.  The  bells  are  now  ringing  muf- 
fled for  the   Death  of  Mr.  Whitefield ;   he    died   in    New    England."     MS.  letter. 

*  Ibid.  i.  439.  5  Ibid.  ii.  283. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          29 

aliquid  Christiin  all  my  letters.6     I  am  a  yet  willing  pilgrim  for  his  great 
name  sake,  and  I  trust  a  blessing  attends  my  poor  feeble  labours. 

He  had  already,  more  than  two  years  before,  written  a  letter 
to  be  referred  to  later  on,  upon  the  new  Academy  in  which  he 
held  the  same  anxious  language  on  behalf  of  his  friend's  plans 
for  the  education  of  youth. 

It  was  about  nine  years  before  his  meeting  with  Whitefield 
that  Franklin  "  put  down  from  time  to  time  such  thoughts  as 
occurred  "  to  him  on  the  subject  of  religion.7 

That  there  is  one  God,  who  made  all  things. 

That  he  governs  the  world  by  his  providence. 

That  he  ought  to  be  worshipped  by  adoration,  prayer  and  thanks- 
giving. 

But  that  the  most  acceptable  service  of  God  is  doing  good  to  man. 

That  the  soul  is  immortal. 

And  that  God  will  certainly  reward  virtue  and  punish  vice,  either 
here  or  hereafter. 

That  portion  of  his  Autobiography  in  which  we  find  these 
lines  recorded  was  written,  he  tells  us,  in  1788.  It  was  but  a 
twelvemonth  before  he  thus  took  up  his  pen  to  renew  his  inter- 
esting personal  narrative,  that  occurred  that  memorable  appeal 
by  him  in  the  Convention  for  framing  the  Constitution  for  the 
use  of  daily  prayers  in  the  deliberations  of  an  assembly  upon 
whom  rested  the  perpetuation  of  a  solid  government  for  the 
United  States.  "  He  seldom  spoke  in  a  deliberative  assembly 
except  for  some  special  object,  and  then  briefly  and  with  great 
simplicity  of  manner  and  language."  Sparks8  tells  us,  on  the 
occasion  now  referred  to,  he  rose  and  said  : 

In  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  Britain,  when  we  were  sensible 
of  danger,  we  had  daily  prayers  in  this  room  for  the  divine  protection. 
Our  prayers,  Sir,  were  heard  ;  and  they  were  graciously  answered.  All  of 
us,  who  were  engaged  in  the  struggle,  must  have  observed  frequent 
instances  of  a  superintending  Providence  in  our  favor.  To  that  kind 
Providence  we  owe  this  happy  opportunity  of  consulting  in  peace  on  the 


6  Two  years  previously  Whitefield  made  the  same  allusion  regarding  the  pro- 
posals  for  the  new  Academy,  in  writing  to  Franklin  26  February,  1750:  "but,   I 
think  there  wants  aliqitid  Chrisli  in  it,  to  make  it  as  useful  as  I  would  desire  it  might 
be."     Tyerman,  ii.  251. 

7  Bigelow,  ii.  190.  8  Sparks,  i.  514. 


3O          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

•means  of  establishing  our  future  national  felicity.  And  have  we  now  for- 
gotten that  powerful  Friend  ?  or  do  we  imagine  we  no  longer  need  his 
assistance  ?  I  have  lived,  Sir,  a  long  time  ;  and,  the  longer  I  live,  the 
more  convincing  proofs  I  see  of  this  truth,  that  GOD  governs  in  the  affairs 
of  men.  And,  if  a  sparrow  cannot  fall  to  the  ground  without  his  notice,  is 
it  probable  that  an  empire  can  rise  without  his  aid  ?  We  have  been 
assured,  Sir,  in  the  Sacred  Writings,  that  ' '  except  the  Lord  build  the  house, 
they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it."  I  firmly  believe  this  ;  and  I  also  believe, 
that,  without  his  concurring  aid,  we  shall  succeed  in  this  political  building 
no  better  than  the  builders  of  Babel  ;  we  shall  be  divided  by  our  little, 
partial,  local  interests,  our  projects  will  be  unfounded,  and  we  ourselves 
shall  become  a  reproach  and  a  by-word  down  to  future  ages.  And,  what 
is  worse,  mankind  may  hereafter,  from  this  unfortunate  instance,  despair 
of  establishing  government  by  human  wisdom,  and  leave  it  to  chance,  war, 
and  conquest.  I  therefore  beg  leave  to  move,  that  henceforth  prayers, 
imploring  the  assistance  of  Heaven  and  its  blessing  on  our  deliberations, 
be  held  in  this  assembly  every  morning  before  we  proceed  to  business  ; 
and  that  one  or  more  of  the  clergy  of  this  city  be  requested  to  officiate  in 
that  service. 

But  his  appeal  was  unavailing,  and  the  motion  was  lost,  "as 
the  Convention,  except  three  or  four  persons,  thought  prayers 
unnecessary.''  There  was  that  in  the  man  that  would  win  the 
friendship  and  respect  of  even  a  Whitefield  ;  and  one  need  won- 
der not  at  the  exercise  of  this  personal  influence  in  all  his  inter- 
course with  his  fellow  men. 

But  domestic  concerns  led  him  to  other  ingenious  thoughts, 
though  for  once  he  here  halted,  not  however  for  lack  of  faith, 
but  failure  at  the  time  of  the  proper  instrument  to  mature  his 
plans.  His  son  William  had  reached  the  age  of  about  twelve 
years  when  he  "  in  1743  drew  up  a  proposal,"  he  tells  us,9 
for  establishing  an  academy;  and  at  that  time,  thinking  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Peters,  who  was  out  of  employ,  a  fit  person  to  superintend  such  an  institu- 
tion, I  communicated  the  project  to  him  ;  but  he,  having  more  profitable 
views  in  the  service  of  the  proprietaries  which  succeeded,  declined  the 
undertaking  :  and,  not  knowing  another  at  that  time  suitable  for  such  a 
trust,  I  let  the  scheme  lie  awhile  dormant. 

Mr.  Peters,  of  whom  much  will  be  said  on  later  pages,  was 
appointed  on  the  14  February  of  this  year,  Secretary  of  the 
Province  and  Clerk  to  the  Council  ;  his  intimate  concern  and 

9  Bigelow,  i.  213. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          31 

interest  in  many  of  Franklin's  enterprises,  and  his  activities  in 
furtherance  of  the  College  and  Academy  as  finally  framed  and 
launched  six  years  later,  made  him  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
circle  of  which  Franklin  was  the  centre. 

This  same  year  witnessed  the  suggestion  by  Franklin,  in 
his  paper  dated  14  May,  1743,  entitled  A  Proposal  for  Pro- 
moting Useful  Knoivlcdge  among  the  British  Plantations  in 
America,  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  which  seems 
to  have  very  soon  thereafter  come  into  existence  ;  "  Benjamin 
Franklin,  the  writer  of  this  proposal,  offers  himself  to  serve  the 
Society  as  their  secretary,  till  they  shall  be  provided  with  one 
more  capable."  On  5  April,  1744,  he  writes  to  Cadwalader 
Golden,  "that  the  society,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  Philadelphia,  is 
actually  formed,  and  has  had  several  meetings  to  mutual  satis- 
faction." The  vicissitudes  of  this  society,  whose  vigour 
lessened  during  Franklin's  long  absences  abroad,  need  only  to 
be  referred  to  here  in  connection  with  its  reorganization  in 
January,  1769,  when  Dr.  Franklin  was  chosen  President,  although 
then  absent  in  London,  to  which  office  he  was  annually  elected 
until  his  death. 

In  writing  about  his  first  proposal  for  an  academy  in  1743, 
he  said,11 

I  had  on  the  whole,  abundant  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  my  being 
established  in  Pennsylvania.  There  were,  however,  two  things  that  I 


10  Bigelow,  ii.   I.  Duyckinck,  i.  575. 

He  continues  :  ' '  the  members  are 

Dr  Thomas  Bond,  as  Physician 

Mr  John  Bartram,  as  Botanist 

Mr  Thomas  Godfrey,  as  Mathematician 

Mr  Samuel  Rhoads,  as  Mechanician 

Mr  William  Parsons,  as  Geographer 

Dr  Phineas  Bond,  as  General  Nat.  Philosopher 

Mr  Thomas  Hopkinson,  President 

Mr  William  Coleman,  Treasurer 

B.  F ,  Secretary,  To  whom  the  following  members  have  since 

been  added,  viz  :  Mr  Alexander,  of  New  York  ;  Mr  Morris,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Jer- 
seys ;  Mr  Home,  Secretary  of  do  ;  Mr  John  Coxe  of  Trenton  ;  and  Mr  Martyn,  of 
the  same  place.  Mr  Nicholls  tells  me  of  several  other  gentlemen  of  this  city  that 
incline  to  encourage  the  thing;  and  there  are  a  number  of  others,  in  Virginia,  Mary- 
land, and  the  New  England  colonies,  we  expect  to  join  us  as  soon  as  they  are 
acquainted  that  the  Society  has  begun  to  form  itself." 

11  Bigelow,  i.  212. 


32          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

regretted,  there  being  no  provision  for  defence,  nor  for  a  compleat  educa- 
tion of  youth  ;  no  militia,  nor  any  college. 

His  plans  for  education  had  been  laid  aside  for  the  present, 
we  have  seen ;  his  plans  for  defence  of  his  city  against  foreign 
invasion  did  not  culminate  for  four  years.  Of  them  he  writes,12 

With  respect  to  defense,  Spain  having  been  several  years  at  war 
against  Great  Britain,  and  being  at  length  join'd  by  France,  which  brought 
us  into  great  danger  ;  and  laboured  and  long  continued  endeavour  of  our 
governor,  Thomas,  to  prevail  with  our  Quaker  Assembly  to  pass  a  militia 
law,  and  make  other  provisions  for  the  security  of  the  province,  having 
proved  abortive,  I  determined  to  try  what  might  be  done  by  a  voluntary 
association  of  the  people.  To  promote  this,  I  first  wrote  and  published 
a  pamphlet,  entitled,  PLAIN  TRUTH.  *  *  *  The  pamphlet  had  a 
sudden  and  surprising  effect.  I  was  call'  d  upon  for  the  instrument  of 
association,  and  having  settled  the  draft  of  it  with  a  few  friends,  I  appointed 
a  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  the  large  building  before  mentioned,  [afterwards 
the  first  home  of  the  University].  The  house  was  pretty  full ;  I  had  pre- 
pared a  number  of  printed  copies,  and  provided  pens  and  ink  dispers'd 
all  over  the  room.  I  harangued  them  a  little  on  the  subject,  read  the 
paper  and  explained  it,  and  then  distributed  the  copies,  which  were  eagerly 
signed,  not  the  least  objection  being  made.  When  the  company  sepa- 
rated, and  the  papers  were  collected,  we  found  above  twelve  hundred 
hands  ;  and  other  copies  being  dispersed  in  the  country,  the  subscribers 
amounted  at  length  to  upwards  of  ten  thousand. 

Thus  was  formed  in  November,  1747,  the  new  militia,  or 
Associators  as  they  were  called.  The  officers  of  the  companies 
composing  the  Philadelphia  regiment  chose  Franklin  as  their 
lieutenant  colonel,13  "but,  conceiving  myself  unfit,  I  declined 
that  station,"  he  writes,  "and  recommended  Mr.  Lawrence." 

By  April  following  nearly  one  thousand  associations  were 
under  arms,  and  batteries  were  erected  on  the  river  front,  the 
grand  battery  near  the  Swedes  Church,  on  ground  afterwards 
occupied  by  the  United  States  Navy  Yard,  being  named  the 
Association  Battery.  But  the  news  of  the  peace  concluded  at 
Aix  la  Chapelle  in  April  reached  Philadelphia  on  24  August, 
1748,  and  their  zeal  and  resolution  had  no  trial  of  contest  with 
the  dreaded  enemy.  Franklin  adds  u 

It  was  thought  by  some  of  my  friends,  that,  by  my  activity  in  these 

12  Bigelow,  i.  213.  13  Ibid,  i.  214.  u  Ibid,  i.  216. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          33 

affairs,  I  should  offend  the  Quakers,  and  thereby  lose  my  interest  in  the 
Assembly  of  the  province,  where  they  formed  a  great  majority.  *  *  * 
However,  I  was  chosen  again  unanimously  as  clerk  at  the  next  election. 
Possibly,  as  theydislik'd  my  late  intimacy  with  the  members  of  Council, 
who  had  joined  the  governors  in  all  the  disputes  about  military  prepara- 
tions, with  which  the  House  had  long  been  harassed,  they  might  have  been 
pleas' d  if  I  would  voluntarily  have  left  them  ;  but  they  did  not  care  to  dis- 
place me  on  account  merely  of  my  zeal  for  the  Association,  and  they  could 
not  well  give  another  reason.  Indeed,  I  had  some  cause  to  believe,  that 
the  defense  of  the  country  was  not  disagreeable  to  any  of  them,  provided 
they  were  not  required  to  assist  in  it.15 

Thus  far  have  been  briefly  stated  the  more  notable  actions 
in  the  first  half  of  the  life  of  the  man  who  conceived  the  plan 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  institution  of  learning  whose 
history  is  here  attempted  ;  and  to  all  those  who  claim  it  as  their 
alma  mater,  it  must  be  a  matter  of  reasonable  pride  that  its 
Father  was  a  man  whose  rare  genius,  and  strong  mind,  and 
whose  diligent  employment  and  nurture  of  the  various  facul- 
ties his  Creator  had  endowed  him  with,  have  made  the  name  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  of  world  wide  note.  Other  institutions  of 
like  character  have  an  earlier  origin,  some  may  have  a  wider 
reputation  ;  but  none  in  our  country  can  claim  such  paternity. 
It  is  well  to  review  here  in  the  outset  his  wonderful  success  in 
all  practical  matters  ;  his  untiring  occupation  of  every  waking 
hour  either  in  self  improvement,  or  in  seeking  the  improvement 
of  others  ;  in  advancing  the  welfare  of  his  city,  his  province,  and 
his  country  at  large  ;  in  probing  the  secrets  of  nature  in  wind 
or  current,  or  in  that  more  subtle  force  which  we  name  elec- 
tricity whose  present  great  development  into  practical  uses 
brings  afresh  to  mind  the  man  who  was  among  the  first  to  make 
his  fellows  familiar  with  its  wonders  ;  in  promoting  learning  ;  in 
disseminating  useful  knowledge  in  all  the  communities  to  which 
his  influence  reached  ;  in  laboring  for  better  municipal  govern- 
ment ;  in  securing  local  betterments  in  street  ways  and  lighting ; 
in  arousing  his  fellow  citizens  to  practical  measures  to  secure 


15  Richard  Peters  approvingly  narrates  this  Association  and  names  Franklin  as 
the  author  of  it  in  his  letter  to  the  Proprietaries,  29  November,  1747.  Sparks,  vii.  20. 
The  plan  had  not  at  first  commended  itself  to  them,  as  savoring  too  much  of  inde- 
pendence in  military  matters. 


34          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

their  defence  against  the  foreign  foe ;  in  striving  with  the  out- 
stretched olive  branch  to  prevent  the  mother  country  forcing  a 
rupture  with  her  transatlantic  children,  and  when  disappointed 
in  that,  holding  with  his  masterly  diplomatic  skill  foreign  nations 
to  their  pledged  alliance  with  us ;  and  under  all  circumstances, 
in  adversity  as  well  as  in  prosperity,  under  bodily  ailments  as 
well  as  with  full  physical  health,  pursuing  with  calmness  and  an 
even  tenor  almost  superhuman  the  paths  of  usefulness  and  duty 
which  he  made,  or  which  were  laid  upon  him  by  a  constituency 
not  always  grateful,  in  private  and  public  life  equally  faithful  to 
the  ends  in  view  and  the  interests  confided  to  him.  Such  a  man 
it  is  well  to  hold  up  to  the  view  of  those  who  may  in  the  coming 
years  seek  their  learning  on  his  foundations  as  an  example  of  a 
manly  and  rightful  ambition,  of  rare  diligence  and  thrift,  and  of 
a  true  catholic  spirit  and  abounding  industry.  He  fulfilled  the 
unconscious  prediction  of  his  worthy  father,  who  commended  to 
him  the  saying  of  the  Wise  Man,  "  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in 
his  business  ?  he  shall  stand  before  kings  ;  he  shall  not  stand 
before  mean  men." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          35 

VIII. 

The  birth  of  the  university  marks  the  half  way  point  in 
Franklin's  life ;  in  the  pursuit  of  its  history  we  cannot  fail  to 
note  his  work  from  time  to  time  in  behalf  of  his  native  country, 
for  we  must  watch  the  events  by  his  share  in  which  he  was  ele- 
vated more  and  more  to  public  notoriety,  and  some  of  which 
nearly  concerned  the  institution  whose  trusteeship  he  faithfully 
continued  in  to  his  last  days,  though  his  long  absences  in  his 
country's  service  deprived  it  for  many  consecutive  years  of  that 
prudent  and  skilful  counsel,  which,  if  exercised,  had  perhaps 
spared  it  from  its  great  disaster  of  1779. 

The  attempt  of  1743  had  not  been  forgotten  by  him,  and 
though  he  had  not  within  view  any  capable  or  experienced  per- 
son to  take  it  in  charge,  he  sought  counsel  of  his  friends,  Mr. 
Peters  included,  and  now  made  public  his  designs.  "  Peace 
being  concluded,"  T  he  says  in  his  Narrative, 

and  the  association  business  therefore  at  an  end,  I  turn'd  my  thoughts 
again  to  the  affair  of  establishing  an  academy.  The  first  step  I 
took  was  to  associate  in  the  design  a  number  of  active  friends,  of  whom 
the  Junto  furnished  a  good  part  ;  the  next  was  to  write  and  publish  a 
pamphlet,  entitled,  Proposals  relating  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in  Penn- 
sylvania. This  I  distributed  among  the  principal  inhabitants  gratis;  and 
as  soon  as  I  could  suppose  their  minds  a  little  prepared  by  the  perusal  of 
it,  I  set  on  foot  a  subscription  for  opening  and  supporting  an  academy. 

And  he  adds  a  sentence  in  his  usual  vein  showing  how 
little  anxious  he  was  to  claim  the  authorship  of  the  plan  : 

In  the  introduction  to  these  proposals,  I  started  their  publication  not 


1  Bigelow,  224,  25.  These  Proposals  of  1749  are  not  found  in  Mr.  Bigelow's 
Complete  Works  of  Franklin.  See  Sparks,  i.  569,  where  they  are  inserted  with  Mr. 
Spark's  literary  freedom  ;  but  will  be  found  herein  correctly  recorded  in  Appendix 
I,  without  however  carrying  the  author's  copious  and  many  notes  wherein  he 
transcribed  authorities  endorsing  his  objects  and  his  methods.  Upon  the  appearance 
of  Volumes  i.  and  ii.  of  Mr.  Bigelow's  valuable  work,  his  attention  was  called  to  the 
omission  of  the  Proposals,  and  he  replied,  23  April,  1887,  "it  will  appear  in  one  of 
the  later  volumes  which  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  Why  it  was  assigned  to 
a  later  date  I  do  not  remember,  nor  could  I  satisfy  myself  without  reference  to  the 
copy,  which  at  present  would  be  inconvenient.  It  will  serve  your  purpose,  I  hope, 
to  know  that  it  had  not  been  overlooked."  Doubtless  the  failure  to  obtain  a  copy  of 
the  original  prevented  this  consummation.  Of  this  rare  publication  but  three  copies 
are  now  known  to  be  preserved,  one  of  them,  happily,  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
University,  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  and  the  Boston  Athenasum  owning 
the  other  two. 


36          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

as  an  act  of  mine,  but  of  more  publick  spirited  gentlemen ;  avoiding  as 
much  as  I  could,  according  to  my  usual  rule,  the  presenting  myself  to  the 
public  as  the  author  of  any  scheme  for  their  benefit. 

We  can  name  the  time  of  the  issue  of  this  remarkable 
paper  by  his  advertisement  already  quoted. 

His  first  section  of  the  Proposals  opens  with  the  well 
known  axiom  that  "  the  good  education  of  youth  has  been 
esteemed  by  wise  men  in  all  ages,  as  the  surest  foundation  of 
the  happiness  of  both  private  families  and  commonwealths,"  and 
proceeds  to  state  the  further  fact  that  "  almost  all  governments 
have  therefore  made  it  a  principal  object  of  their  attention,  to 
establish  and  endow  with  proper  revenues  such  seminaries  of 
learning,  as  might  supply  the  succeeding  age  with  men  qualified 
to  serve  the  public  with  honor  to  themselves  and  to  their 
country." 

The  present  necessity  lying  on  the  colonists  to  restore  and 
maintain  a  "good  education"  is  well  stated  in  the  next  section. 
"  Many  of  the  first  settlers  of  these  provinces  were  men  who 
had  received  a  good  education  in  Europe ;  and  to  their  wisdom 
and  good  management  we  owe  much  of  our  present  prosperity. 
But  their  hands  were  full,  and  they  could  not  do  all  things. 
The  present  race  are  not  thought  to  be  generally  of  equal  ability: 
for,  though  the  American  youth  are  allowed  not  to  want  capacity, 
yet  the  best  capacities  require  cultivation  ;  it  being  truly  with 
them,  as  with  the  best  ground,  which,  unless  well  tilled  and 
sowed  with  profitable  seed,  produces  only  ranker  weeds."  He 
then  proceeds;  "that  we  may  obtain  the  advantages  arising 
from  an  increase  of  knowledge,  and  prevent,  as  much  as  may 
be,  the  mischievous  consequences  that  would  attend  a  general 
ignorance  among  us,  the  following  hints  are  offered  towards 
forming  a  plan  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  Pennsylvania." 

The  entire  text  of  the  paper  will  be  found  elsewhere,  but 
there  are  some  propositions  it  submits  which  call  for  especial 
note  as  they  are  as  fruitful  in  suggestions  now  as  then.  One  of 
the  first  points  to  a  paternal  management,  giving  this  preference 
over  the  scholastic  : 

That  the  members  of  the  corporation  make  it  their  pleasure,  and  in 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          37 

some  degree  their  business,  to  visit  the  Academy  often,  encourage  and 
countenance  the  youth,  countenance  and  assist  the  masters,  and  by  all 
means  in  their  power  advance  the  usefulness  and  reputation  of  the  design  ; 
that  they  look  on  the  students  as  in  some  sort  their  children,  treat  them 
with  familiarity  and  affection,  and,  when  they  have  behaved  well,  and  gone 
through  their  studies,  and  are  to  enter  the  world,  zealously  unite,  and  make 
all  the  interest  that  can  be  made  to  establish  them,  whether  in  business, 
offices,  marriages,  or  any  other  thing  for  their  advantage,  preferably  to  all 
other  persons  whatsoever,  even  of  equal  merit 

The  next  is  a  proper  habitation  : 

That  a  house  be  provided  for  the  Academy,  if  not  in  the  town,  not 
many  miles  from  it  ;  the  situation  high  and  dry,  and,  if  it  may  be,  not  far 
from  a  river,  having  a  garden,  orchard,  meadow,  and  a  field  or  two.  [And,] 
that  the  house  be  furnished  with  a  library  if  in  the  country,  (if  in  the  town, 
the  town  libraries  may  serve.)  2 

And  further, 

that  the  Rector  be  a  man  of  good  understanding,  good  morals,  diligent 
and  patient,  learned  in  the  languages  and  sciences,  and  a  correct,  pure 
speaker  and  writer  of  the  English  tongue. 

As  to  the  students, 

it  would  be  well  if  they  could  be  taught  everything  that  is  useful,  and 
everything  that  is  ornamental.  But  art  is  long,  and  their  time  is  short* 
It  is  therefore  proposed,  that  they  learn  those  things  that  are  likely  to  be 
the  most  useful  and  most  ornamental ;  regard  being  had  to  the  several  pro- 
fessions for  which  they  are  intended.  *  *  *  Reading  should  also  be 
taught,  and  pronouncing  properly,  distinctly,  emphatically  ;  not  with  an 
even  tone,  which  under-does,  nor  a  theatrical,  which  over-does  nature.  To 
form  their  style,  they  should  be  put  in  writing  letters  to  each  other,  making 

2  Upon  the  site  of  a  College  we  have  Antony  a  Woods  loving  reference  to 
Oxford  :  "  First  a  good  and  pleasant  site,  where  there  is  a  wholesome  and  temperate 
constitution  of  the  air ;  composed  with  waters,  springs  or  wells,  woods  and  pleasant 
fields  ;  which  being  obtained,  those  commodities  are  enough  to  invite  students  to 
stay  and  abide  there.  As  the  Athenians  in  ancient  times  were  happy  for  their  conve- 
niences, so  also  were  the  Britons,  when  by  a  remnant  of  the  Grecians  that  came 
amongst  them,  they  or  their  successors  selected  such  a  place  in  Britain  to  plant  a 
school  or  schools  therein,  which  for  its  pleasant  situation  was  afterwards  called  Bello- 
situm  or  Belosite  now  Oxford,  privileged  with  all  those  conveniences  before  men- 
tioned." Quoted  by  John  Henry  Newman  in  his  Office  and  Work  of  Universities, 
London,  1856,  p.  40.  In  a  previous  page  Cardinal  Newman  had  said,  "If  I  were 
asked  to  describe  as  briefly  and  popularly  as  I  could  what  a  University  was,  I  should 
draw  my  answer  from  its  ancient  designation  of  a  Studiam  Gfnerale,  or  school  of 
Universal  Learning  '  '  a  school  of  knowledge  of  every  kind,  consisting  of 

teachers  and  learners  from  every  quarter  *  *  *  a  place  for  the  communication 
and  circulation  of  thought  by  means  of  personal  intercourse  through  a  wide  extent  of 
country,"  p.  9. 

s  Ars  longa,  vita  brevis.     Hippocrates,  Aphorism. 


38          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

abstracts  of  what  they  read,  or  writing  the  same  things  in  their  own  words  ; 
telling  or  writing  stories  lately  read,  in  their  own  expressions. 

Here  we  are  reminded  of  Franklin's  own  early  experiments 
in  composition  ;  when  a  lad  of  but  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
reading  the  Spectator  made  him  ambitious  to  excel  in  style.4  And 
with  the  view,  if  possible,  of  imitating  it,  his  narrative  tells  us 

I  took  some  of  the  papers,  and  making  short  hints  of  the  sentiment 
in  each  sentence,  laid  them  by  a  few  days,  and  then,  without  looking  at 
the  book,  try'd  to  compleat  the  papers  again,  by  expressing  each  hinted 
sentiment  at  length,  and  as  fully  as  it  had  been  expressed  before,  in  any 
suitable  words  that  should  occur  to  me.  Then  I  compared  my  Spectator 
with  the  original,  discovered  some  of  my  faults,  and  corrected  them.  But 
I  found  I  wanted  a  stock  of  words,  or  a  readiness  in  recollecting  and 
using  them,  which  I  thought  I  should  have  acquired  before  that  time  if  I 
had  gone  on  making  verses  ;  since  the  continual  occasion  for  words  of  the 
same  import,  but  of  different  length  to  suit  the  measure,  or  of  different 
sound  for  the  rhyme,  would  have  laid  me  under  a  constant  necessity  of 
searching  for  variety,  and  also  have  tended  to  fix  that  variety  in  my  mind, 
and  make  me  master  of  it.  Therefore  I  took  some  of  the  tales  and  turned 
them  into  verse  ;  and,  after  a  time,  when  I  had  pretty  well  forgotten  the 
prose,  turned  them  back  again .  *  *  *  By  comparing  my  work  after- 
wards with  the  original,  I  discovered  my  faults,  and  amended  them  ;  but  I 
sometimes  had  the  pleasure  of  fancying  that,  in  certain  particulars  of  small 
import,  I  had  been  lucky  enough  to  improve  the  method  or  the  language, 
and  this  encouraged  me  to  think,  that  I  might  possibly  in  time  come  to  be 
a  tolerable  English  writer  ;  of  which  I  was  extremely  ambitious. 

Franklin  became  more  than  a  tolerable  English  writer,  and 
he  remained  to  his  latest  years  a  master  in  the  art ;  and  the 
foundation  of  this  was  laid  in  the  strenuous  efforts  of  his  boy- 
hood for  success,  the  memory  of  which  must  have  been  in 
his  mind  even  when  he  was  writing  his  Proposals,  to  which  after 
this  digression  we  must  turn  again. 

He  recurs  to  History,  as  embracing  Geography,  Chronol- 
ogy, Ancient  Customs,  Morals,  Politics,  and  Oratory  : 

History  will  also  give  occasion  to  expatiate  on  the  advantage  of  civil 
orders  and  constitutions  ;  how  men  and  their  properties  are  protected  by 
joining  in  societies  and  establishing  government  ;  their  industry  encour- 
aged and  rewarded,  arts  invented,  and  life  made  more  comfortable  ;  the 

4  Bigelow,  i.  48. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          39 

advantages  of  liberty,  mischiefs  of  licentiousness,  benefits  arising  from 
good  laws  and  a  due  execution  of  justice,  &c.  Thus  may  the  first  princi- 
ples of  sound  politics  be  fixed  in  the  minds  of  youth.  On  historical  occa- 
sions, questions  of  right  and  wrong,  justice  and  injustice,  will  naturally 
arise,  and  may  be  put  to  youth,  which  they  may  debate  in  conversation 
and  in  writing.  *  *  *  Public  disputes  warm  the  imagination,  whet 
the  industry,  and  strengthen  the  natural  abilities. 

And  of  the  ancient  languages,  hear  how  the  master  in 
English  writes  : 

When  youth  are  told,  that  the  great  men,  whose  lives  and  actions 
they  read  in  history,  spoke  two  of  the  best  languages  that  ever  were,  the 
most  expressive,  copious,  beautiful  ;  and  that  the  finest  writings,  the  most 
correct  compositions,  the  most  perfect  productions  of  human  wit  and  wis- 
dom, are  in  those  languages,  which  have  endured  for  ages,  and  will  endure 
while  there  are  men;  that  no  translation  can  do  them  justice,  or  give  the 
pleasure  found  in  reading  the  originals;  that  those  languages  contain  all 
science;  that  one  of  them  is  become  almost  universal,  being  the  language 
of  learned  men  in  all  countries  ;  that  to  understand  them  is  a  distinguish- 
ing ornament  ;  &c. ,  &c.,  they  may  be  thereby  made  desirous  of  learning 
those  languages,  and  their  industry  sharpened  in  the  acquisition  of  them. 
All  intended  for  divinity,  should  be  taught  the  Latin  and  Greek  ;  for  physic, 
the  Latin,  Greek,  and  French;  for  law,  the  Latin  and  French  ;  merchants, 
the  French,  German,  and  Spanish;  and,  though  all  should  not  be  com- 
pelled to  learn  Latin,  Greek,  or  the  modern  foreign  languages,  yet  none 
that  have  an  ardent  desire  to  learn  them  should  be  refused;  their  English, 
arithmetic  and  other  studies  absolutely  necessary,  being  at  the  same  time 
not  neglected.  *  *  *  With  the  history  of  men,  times,  and  nations, 
should  be  read  at  proper  hours  or  days,  some  of  the  best  histories  of  nature, 
which  would  not  only  be  delightful  to  youth,  and  furnish  them  with  matter 
for  their  letters,  &c.,  as  well  as  other  history;  but  afterwards  of  great  use 
to  them,  whether  they  are  merchants,  handicrafts,  or  divines  ;  enabling 
the  first  the  better  to  understand  many  commodities,  drugs,  &c.,  the  second 
to  improve  his  trade  in  handicraft  by  new  mixtures,  materials,  &c.,  and 
the  last  to  adorn  his  discourses  by  beautiful  comparisons,  and  strengthen 
them  by  new  proofs  of  divine  providence.  The  conversation  of  all  will  be 
improved  by  it,  as  occasions  frequently  occur  of  making  natural  observa- 
tions, which  are  instructive,  agreeable,  and  entertaining  in  almost  all  com- 
panies. *  While  they  are  reading  natural  history,  might  not  a 
little  gardening,  planting,  grafting,  inoculating,  &c.,  be  taught  and  prac- 
tised; and  now  and  then  excursions  made  to  the  neighboring  plantations  of 
the  best  farmers,  their  methods  observed  and  reasoned  upon  for  the  infor- 
mation of  youth.  *  The  history  of  commerce,  of  the  invention 


4O          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  arts,  rise  of  manufactures,  progress  of  trade,  change  of  its  seats,  with 
the  reasons,  causes,  &c. ,  may  also  be  made  entertaining  to  youth,  and  will 
be  useful  to  all. 

And  the  concluding  lines  enforce  yet  higher  aims  : 

With  the  whole  should  be  constantly  inculcated  and  cultivated  that 
benignity  of  mind,  which  shows  itself  in  searching  for  and  seizing  every 
opportunity  to  serve  and  to  oblige  ;  and  is  the  foundation  of  what  is  called 
good  breeding  ;  highly  useful  to  the  possessor,  and  most  agreeable  to  all. 
The  idea  of  what  is  true  merit  should  also  be  often  presented  to  youth, 
explained  and  impressed  on  their  minds,  as  consisting  in  an  inclination, 
joined  with  an  ability,  to  serve  mankind,  one's  country,  friends,  and 
family;  which  ability  is,  (with  the  blessing  of  God),  to  be  acquired  or 
greatly  increased  by  true  learning  ;  and  should,  indeed,  be  the  great  aim 
and  end  of  all  learning. 


IX. 

Before  considering  the  result  of  the  publication  of  these 
Proposals  in  the  community,  we  may  well  take  some  note  of  the 
educational  facilities  of  the  city  at  this  period,  the  imperfections 
of  which  led  Franklin  and  his  associates  to  formulate  something 
on  a  higher  plane  and  to  establish  a  more  enduring  system. 
Before  the  advent  of  William  Penn's  colonists,  the  schooling  of 
the  young  Swedes  and  Dutch  was  of  a  very  simple  character  ; 
the  systems  which  the  first  emigrants  had  the  advantage  of  at 
home  they  seemed  to  have  but  little  will  and  less  opportunity  to 
enforce  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  Their  faithful  clergy 
could  carry  on  the  elementary  branches  among  the  younger 
members  of  their  flock,  but  their  pastoral  duties  must  take  pre- 
cedence. The  advent  of  the  Friends  brought  back  more 
energy  and  more  learning  into  the  province,  and  the  diligence 
and  thrift  they  displayed  in  all  matters  were  equally  felt  in  their 
care  of  the  younger  generation.  Gabriel  Thomas,  in  his  His- 
torical Description  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  including  an 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UINIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          41 

account  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  written  in  1697,  records, 
"  In  the  said  city  are  several  good  schools  of  learning  for  youth, 
in  order  to  the  attainment  of  arts  and  sciences,  as  also  reading, 
writing,  &c."  It  may  be  without  design  that  his  following  sen- 
tence has  it  that  "  here  is  to  be  had,  on  any  day  in  the  week, 
tarts,  pies,  cakes,  &c.,"  as  his  thoughts  naturally  would  turn  to 
the  latter  upon  the  consideration  of  children's  schools  and  their 
lunches.  And  later  he  says,  "  the  Christian  children  born  here 
are  generally  well  favored,  and  beautiful  to  behold  ;"  and  "  of 
lawyers  and  physicans  I  shall  say  nothing,  because  this  country  is 
very  peaceable  and  healthy;"  also  "jealousy  among  men  is 
here  very  rare,  nor  are  old  maids  to  be  met  with  ;  for  all  com- 
monly marry  before  they  are  twenty  years  of  age." 

The  earliest  Friends'  school  of  which  we  find  mention  is  in 
the  minutes  of  a  Council  held  26  December,  1683,  at  which 
William  Penn  was  present,  when 

having  taken  into  their  serious  consideration  the  great  necessity  there  is 
of  a  School  Master  for  the  instruction  and  sober  education  of  youth  in 
the  town  of  Philadelphia,  sent  for  Enoch  Flower,  an  inhabitant  of  the 
said  town,  who  for  twenty  years  past  hath  been  exercised  in  that  care  and 
imployment  in  England,  to  whom  having  communciated  their  minds,  he 
embraced  it  upon  certain  terms,  [but  this  only  included  the  rudiments  of 
an  ordinary  English  education]  ;  for  boarding  a  scholar,  that  is  to  say, 
diet,  washing,  lodging,  and  schooling,  Ten  pounds  for  one  whole  year 
[But  at  a  council  held  on  the  17  January  following,]  it  was  proposed,  that 
care  be  taken  about  the  learning  and  instruction  of  youth,  to  wit  :  a  school 
of  arts  and  sciences. 

Following  these  efforts  came  in  1689  the  Friends  "  Publick 
School,  founded  by  Charter  in  ye  town  and  County  of  Philadel- 
phia in  Pensilvania,"  under  William  Penn's  Charters  of  1701, 
1708,  and  1711,  which  confirmed  the  charter  of  1697,  granted 
by  William  Markham,  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  which  we 
know  to  this  day  as  the  Penn  Charter  School,  whose  reputation 
in  efficiency  and  success  in  imparting  a  good  and  true  education 
make  it  rank  with  the  best  schools  in  the  land.  Its  first  teacher 
was  a  native  of  Aberdeen,  and  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
his  native  city,  of  which  the  first  Provost  of  the  College 
and  Academy  of  Philadelphia  had  been  a  matriculate. 


42          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

George  Keith  and  William  Smith  both  have  left  their 
mark  in  the  annals  of  Philadelphia ;  but  the  former 
made  for  himself  a  stormy  life  and  for  his  old  associates 
here  much  contention.  George  Keith  was  born  in  1638, 
and  at  the  University  was  a  student  while  Gilbert  Burnet, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  and  five  years  his  junior,  was  there  ;  he  was 
originally  a  member  of  the  Scotch  Kirk,  but  afterwards  em- 
braced the  doctrines  of  the  Friends  of  which  he  became  a  bold 
and  shining  advocate,  "  and  who  by  his  remarkable  diligence 
and  industry  in  all  parts  of  his  ministerial  office,  rendered  him- 
self beloved  "of  them  all,  especially  the  more  inferior  sort  of 
people."1  In  1682  he  came  to  America;  in  1687  as  Surveyor 
he  was  employed  on  the  boundary  line  between  East  and  West 
Jersey,  and  in  1689  came  to  Philadelphia  to  take  charge  of  the 
new  Public  School.  In  less  than  two  years  time  dissensions 
arose  from  his  assuming  conduct ;  Proud  2  describes  him  "  to 
be  of  a  brittle  temper,  and  over-bearing  disposition  of  mind. 
*  *  His  great  confidence  in  his  own  superior  abilities 
seems  to  have  been  one,  if  not  the  chief,  introductory  cause  of 
this  unhappy  dispute."  Doubtless  his  confidence  in  Friends 
views  was  slackening,  and  his  adherence  to  their  peculiar  ways 
was  weakening,  unknown  to  himself  at  first,  and  his  strong  will 
let  loose  became  impatient  at  the  Society's  restraints.  However 
this  may  be,  he  was  disowned  by  them  on  20  June,  1692.  He, 
and  those  who  clung  to  him,  called  themselves  Christian 
Quakers,  and  the  others  Apostates,  and  appealed  to  the  Lon- 
don Yearly  Meeting,  but  without  avail,  although  he  crossed  the 
ocean  to  champion  his  own  cause.  Eventually  he  sought  mem- 
bership in  the  Church  of  England,  and  was  ordained  to  her 
ministry  in  May,  1700.  He  was  sent  out  to  the  colonies  as  a 
Missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
where  his  zeal  against  the  Friends  equalled  in  force  the  zeal  he 
had  displayed  on  their  behalf  twenty  years  before.  He  re- 
turned to  England,  and  died  in  his  living  of  Edburton  in  1716, 


1  Gerard  Croese,  quoted  in  Collections  P.  E.  Historical  Society,  1837,  p.  xi. 

2  History  of  Pennsylvania,  i.  363. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          43 

Bishop  Burnet  said  of  his  college  mate3  "  he  was  esteemed  the 
most  learned  man  that  ever  was  in  that  Sect ;  he  was  well 
versed  both  in  the  Oriental  tongues,  in  Philosophy  and  Mathe- 
matics." Dr.  Wickersham  says  "  his  success  was  not  great  "  at 
the  school,  and  his  disappointment  may  have  opened  the  door 
for  his  restlessness  in  the  Society. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  usher,  Thomas  Makin,  who  con- 
tinued in  charge  for  many  years.  Franklin,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  29  November,  1733,  announces  his  death  by  drown- 
ing, and  speaks  of  him  "as  an  ancient  man,  and  formerly  lived 
very  well  in  this  city,  teaching  a  considerable  school."  His 
Descriptio  Pennsylvania,  anno  1729,  Proud  gives  us  and  also 
favors  us  with  an  English  version.  He  refers  to  the  Publick 
School  thus  : 

Hie  in  gymnafiis  linguae  docentur  &  artes 
Ingenuae;  multis  doctor  &  ipse  fui. 

Una  Schola  hie  alias  etiam  superemivet  omnes 
Romano  &  Grceco  quaa  docet  ore  loqui. 

The  charter  of  1701  placed  the  management  of  this  school 
in  the  Monthly  Meeting.  That  of  1708  took  this  from  the 
Meeting  and  gave  it  to  "  fifteen  discreet  and  religious  persons  of 
the  people  called  Quakers"  as  a  Board  of  Overseers.  James 
Logan  and  Issac  Norris  were  overseers  when  becoming  Trustees 
of  the  College  and  Academy,  but  their  acceptance  of  this  trust 
in  1749  was  deemed  by  the  Friends  inconsistent  with  their 
duties  as  Overseers  of  the  Publick  School.  The  opening  of  the 
new  College  and  Academy  by  a  form  of  divine  service  and  a  set 
sermon  probably  disqualified  Friends  from  serving  in  its  behalf, 
or  at  least  made  their  presence  in  its  counsels  not  in  accord  with 
the  Society's  testimony.  James  Logan  attended  for  the  only 
time  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  on  26  Decem- 
ber, 1749.  He  had  been  from  the  outset  an  Overseer  of  the 
Publick  School,  the  minutes  of  which  show  him  to  have  been 


3  "One  George  Keith,  a  Scotchman  with  whom  I  had  my  first  education  at 
Aberdeen;  he  had  been  thirty  six  years  among  them;  *  *  "  after  he  had  been 
about  thirty  years  in  high  esteem  among  them  he  was  sent  to  Pensilvania  (a  colony 
set  up  by  Pen  where  they  are  very  numerous)  to  have  the  chief  direction  of  the 
education  of  their  youth."  History  of  My  Own  Times,  ii.  248,  9. 


44          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

an  infrequent  attendant  at  their  meetings,  indeed  he  had  not 
been  at  any  for  nine  years.  His  meeting  with  the  Academy 
Trustees  could  not  be  overlooked,  and  on  21  February,  1751, 
the  Overseers  recorded  a  Minute,  namely,  "inasmuch  as  James 
Logan  hath  been  for  some  time  past  by  several  Fitts  of  the  Palsy 
rendered  quite  incapable  of  any  further  service  as  an  over- 
seer, without  any  prospect  of  his  recovery  and  as  he  some  time 
before  his  being  so  indispos'd  express'd  his  declining  the  Trust, 
as  he  could  not  give  his  attendance,  it  is  therefore  concluded  to 
choose  another  in  his  place."  On  James  Logan's  death  only  a 
few  months  following,  the  vacancy  in  the  Academy  Board  was 
supplied  by  electing  his  son-in-law,  Isaac  Norris,  on  12  Novem- 
ber, 1751.  He  likewise  was  an  Overseer,  succeeding  his  Father 
in  the  Board,  but  his  attendance  there  was  as  rare  as  Logan's  : 
and  the  Overseers  at  a  meeting  on  30  March,  1752  gave  it  as 
their  sense  that 

Isaac  Norris  having  for  several  years  past  neglected  attending  the  meetings 
of  this  Board  and  having  lately  accepted  of  the  Trusteeship  of  the  Acade- 
my it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Board  that  it  is  necessary  to  enquire  whether 
he  still  inclines  to  continue  a  member  of  this  Corporation  and  if  he  does 
to  acquaint  him,  that  it  is  expected  and  desired  by  us  that  he  should  dem- 
onstrate his  concern  for  promoting  the  Institution  by  attending  of  our 
meetings,  and  Joshua  Comly  and  Samuel  Preston  Moore  having  at  a 
former  meeting  undertaken  to  converse  with  him  on  this  subject,  the  latter 
of  them  is  now  reminded  of  it  and  desired  to  take  an  opportunity  of  doing 
it  before  our  next  meeting. 

The  only  time  Isaac  Norris  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Academy 
Trustees  was  on  11  August  following,  when  "the  Trustees 
visited  the  Latin  School  and  did  no  other  Business."  He  re- 
signed this  Trusteeship  on  17  March,  1755,  owing  to  his  resi- 
dence out  of  town  and  to  his  ailments  ;  in  the  meanwhile  the 
Friends  dealt  tenderly  with  him  for  his  neglect  of  his  Overseer- 
ship.  And  it  is  not  until  6  March,  1756,  that  we  find  this  dis- 
posing Minute  : 

Isaac  Norris  by  the  committee  appointed  to  wait  on  him  informed  the 
Board  of  the  satisfaction  this  account  of  the  present  state  of  the  schools 
affords  him,  and  of  his  inclinations  to  promote  the  service  of  it  which  he  is 
willing  to  manifest  by  any  assistance  he  can  give  the  master  and  occasion- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          45 

ally  visiting  the  school  and  examining  the  scholars,  but  that  as  he  is  often 
indisposed  and  lives  out  of  town  he  cannot  duly  attend  the  meetings  of  the 
Board  and  therefore  desires  to  resign  his  Trust  and  that  the  Board  would 
chose  another  Overseer  in  his  place. 

The  principal  school  building  of  the  Overseers  was  on  the 
East  side  of  Fourth  Street  south  of  Chestnut,  to  this  were 
added  certain  charity  schools  in  different  sections  of  the  city. 
The  usefulness  of  the  Penn  Charter  School  is  greatly  enlarged 
to  day  by  their  increased  means  derived  from  the  modern  im- 
provements of  their  Fourth  Street  property.  Nothing  can  be 
added  here  on  the  subject  of  early  educational  labors  in  our  city 
to  Dr.  Wickersham's  History  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania, 
which  is  a  storehouse  of  information  and  an  interesting  record  of 
the  efforts  of  our  forefathers  to  secure  efficient  training  to  the 
coming  generations.  There  were  other  schools,  of  moderate 
influence;  Christ  Church  had  its  school  building  before  1709 
where  a  plain  education  was  furnished  at  moderate  or  at  no 
cost ;  and  some  of  the  other  churches  labored  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. But  the  Penn  Charter  School  maintained  the  lead  ;  yet  it 
could  not  have  filled  all  the  needs  of  the  growing  community, 
otherwise  in  1749  Franklin's  efforts  for  a  school  of  broader 
scope  and  higher  aims  could  not  so  speedily  have  been  organ- 
ized, and  the  aid  secured  by  him  of  the  leading  Quaker  citizens 
in  the  town  to  further  the  project.  With  all  Franklin's  friend- 
ship with  the  Friends,  he  realised  the  importance  of  establishing 
a  school  on  a  more  catholic  basis,  in  whose  management  all 
classes  and  all  churches  could  have  a  reasonable  representation. 
The  faithful  performance  by  the  Overseers  of  the  simple  require- 
ments of  their  charter  was  all  that  could  be  asked  of  them,  and 
to  this  they  were  true  ;  but  his  foresight  of  the  needs  of  the 
future  showed  him  plainly  that  no  time  now  should  be  lost  in 
laying  the  foundations  of  something  larger  and  more  elastic. 
Harvard  and  Yale  he  had  heard  of  and  known  in  his  earliest 
days ;  and  the  young  college  at  Princeton  had  already  graduated 
a  Stockton  and  a  Burnet,  and  among  its  matriculants  were  a 
Frelinghuysen,  a  McClintock,  a  Scudder,  and  a  Livermore. 


46          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

X. 

Such  was  the  spirit  and  effect  of  Franklin's  Proposals,  and 
the  zeal  and  personal  influence  of  its  author,  that  the  plan 
reached  consummation  within  a  few  weeks  time.  He  tells  us, 
"  the  subscribers,  to  carry  the  project  into  immediate  execution, 
chose  out  of  their  number  twenty-four  trustees,  and  appointed 
Mr.  Francis,  then  Attorney  General,  and  myself,  to  draw  up 
constitutions  for  the  government  of  the  academy."  7  These  con- 
stitutions are  worthy  of  entire  perusal,  as  they  embody  a  widely 
useful  plan  of  education,  and  an  admirable  system  of  govern- 
ment. From  their  style  in  parts,  we  find  good  reason  to  think 
that  Franklin's  ideas  were  committed  to  the  Attorney  General 
for  a  fitting  phraseology,  but  we  miss  the  terseness  and  lucidity 
of  expression,  though  recognizing  here  and  there  his  interline- 
ations, as  for  instance,  where  in  the  first  section  the  "  English 
tongue  is  to  be  taught  grammatically  "  we  see  Franklin  adding 
the  words  "  and  as  a  language,"  by  which  he  would  emphasize 
his  sense  of  the  importance  of  keeping  our  Mother  tongue 
foremost  in  the  aims  of  the  institution.  Later  on  it  will  be  seen 
how  tenacious  he  was  of  this  when  other  influences  appeared  to 
be  making  what  he  called  the  dead  languages  the  principal  aim 
in  the  curriculum. 

CONSTITUTIONS 

OF   THE 

PUBLICK  ACADEMY 

IN   THE 

CITY  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

As  nothing  can  more  effectually  contribute  to  the  Cultivation  and 
Improvement  of  a  Country,  the  Wisdom,  Riches  and  Strength,  Virtue  and 
Piety,  the  Welfare  and  Happiness  of  a  People,  than  a  proper  Education 
of  Youth,  by  forming  their  Manners,  imbuing  their  tender  Minds  with 
Principles  of  Rectitude  and  Morality,  instructing  them  in  the  dead  and 
living  Languages,  particularly  their  Mother  Tongue,  and  all  useful  Branches 
of  liberal  Arts  and  Science.  For  attaining  these  great  and  important 
Advantages,  so  far  as  the  present  State  of  our  Infant  Country  will  admit, 

7  Bigelow,  i.  225. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          47 

and  laying  a  Foundation  for  Posterity  to  erect  a  Seminary  of  Learning  more 
extensive  and  suitable  to  their  future  Circumstances  ;  An  ACADEMY  for 
teaching  the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages,  the  English  Tongue  grammati- 
cally, and  as  a  Language,  the  most  useful  living  foreign  Languages,  French, 
German,  and  Spanish  :  As  matters  of  Erudition  naturally  flowing  from  the 
Languages,  History,  Geography,  Chronology,  Logick  and  Rhetoric  k  ; 
Writing,  Arithmetick ;  the  several  Branches  of  the  Mathematicks  ; 
Natural 'and  Mechanic  Philosophy;  Drawing  in  Perspective;  and  every 
other  Part  of  Useful  Learning  and  Knowledge,  shall  be  set  up,  maintained 
and  have  Continuance  within  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  in  manner  follow- 
ing. Twenty-four  Persons,  To  wit,  James  Logan,  Thomas  Lawrence, 
William  Allen,  John  Inglis,  Tench  Francis,  William  Masters,  Lloyd 
Zachary,  Samuel  Me  Call,  junior,  Joseph  Turner,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Thomas  Leech,  William  Shippen,  Robert  Strettell,  Philip  Syng,  Charles 
Willing,  Phineas  Bond,  Richard  Peters,  Abraham  Taylor,  Thomas  Bond, 
Thomas  Hopkinson,  William  Plumstead,  Joshua  Maddox,  Thomas  White, 
and  William  Coleman,  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  shall  be  TRUSTEES  to 
begin  and  carry  into  Execution  this  good  and  pious  Undertaking,  who 
shall  not  for  any  Services  by  them  as  Trustees  performed,  claim  or  receive 
any  Reward  or  Compensation  ;  which  number  shall  always  be  continued, 
but  never  exceeded,  upon  any  Motive  whatever. 

WHEN  any  Trustee  shall  remove  his  Habitation  far  from  the  City  of 
Philadelphia,  reside  beyond  Sea,  or  die,  the  remaining  Trustees  shall  with 
all  convenient  speed,  proceed  to  elect  another,  residing  in  or  near  the 
City,  to  fill  the  Place  of  the  absenting  or  deceased  Person. 

THE  Trustees  shall  have  general  Conventions  once  in  every  Month, 
and  may,  on  special  Occasions,  meet  at  other  Times  on  Notice,  at  some 
convenient  Place,  within  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  to  transact  the  Business 
incumbent  on  them  ;  and  shall,  in  the  Gazette,  advertize  the  Time  and 
Place  of  their  general  Conventions. 

NOTHING  shall  be  transacted  by  the  Trustees,  or  under  their  Author- 
ity, alone,  unless  the  same  be  voted  by  a  Majority  of  their  whole  Number, 
if  at  a  general  Convention  ;  and  if  at  a  special  Meeting,  by  a  like  Majority, 
upon  personal  Notice  given  to  each  Trustee,  at  least  one  Day  before,  to 
attend. 

THE  Trustees  shall  at  their  first  Meeting  elect  a  PRESIDENT  for  One 
Year,  whose  particular  Duty  it  shall  be,  when  present,  to  regulate  their 
Debates,  and  state  the  proper  Questions  arising  from  them,  and  to  order 
Notices  to  be  given  of  the  Times  and  Places  of  their  special  Conventions. 
And  the  like  Election  shall  be  annually  made,  at  their  first  Meeting,  after 
the  Expiration  of  each  Year. 

THE  Trustees  shall  annually  choose  one  of  their  own  Members  for  a 
TREASURER,  who  shall  receive  all  Donations,  and  Money  due  to  them,  and 


48          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

disburse  and  lay  out  the  same,  according  to  their  Orders  ;  and  at  the  end 
of  each  Year,  pay  the  Sum  remaining  in  his  Hands  to  his  Successor. 

ALL  Contracts  and  Assurances  for  Payment  of  Money  to  them,  shall 
be  made  in  the  name  of  the  Treasurer  for  the  Time  being,  and  declared  to 
be  in  Trust  for  the  Use  of  the  Trustees. 

THE  Trustees  may  appoint  a  Clerk,  whose  Duty  in  particular  it  shall 
be,  to  attend  them  in  their  general  and  special  Conventions,  to  give  Notice 
in  Writing  to  the  Members,  of  the  Time,  Place  and  Design  of  any  special 
Meetings  ;  to  register  all  their  Proceedings,  and  extract  a  State  of  their 
Accounts  annually,  to  be  published  in  the  Gazette;  for  which  they  may 
pay  him  such  Salary  as  they  shall  think  reasonable. 

THE  Trustees  shall,  with  all  convenient  Speed,  after  signing  these 
Constitutions,  contract  with  any  Person  that  offers,  who  they  shall  judge 
most  capable,  of  teaching  the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages,  History,  Geog- 
raphy, Chronology  and  Rhetorick ;  having  great  Regard  at  the  same  Time 
to  his  Polite  Speaking,  Writing,  and  Understanding  the  English  Tongue  ; 
which  Person  shall  in  Fact  be,  and  shall  be  stiled,  the  RECTOR  of  the 
Academy. 

THE  Trustees  may  contract  with  the  Rector  for  the  Term  of  Five 
Years,  or  less,  at  their  Discretion,  for  the  Sum  of  Two  Hundred  Pounds  a 
Year. 

THE  Rector  shall  be  obliged,  without  the  Assistance  of  any  Tutor,  to 
teach  twenty  scholars,  the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages,  and  at  the  same 
Time,  according  to  the  best  of  his  Capacity,  to  instruct  them  in  History, 
Geography,  Chronology,  Logick,  Rhetorick,  and  the  English  Tongue ;  and 
Twenty-five  Scholars  more  for  every  Usher  provided  for  him,  who  shall  be 
entirely  subject  to  his  Direction. 

THE  Rector  shall  upon  all  Occasions,  consistent  with  his  Duty  in  the 
Latin  School,  assist  the  English  Master,  in  improving  the  Youth  under  his 
Care,  and  superintend  the  Instruction  of  all  the  Scholars  in  the  other 
Branches  of  Learning,  taught  within  the  Academy  and  see  that  the  Masters 
in  each  Art  and  Science  perform  their  Duties. 

THE  Trustees  shall,  with  all  convenient  Speed,  contract  with  any 
Person  that  offers,  who  they  shall  judge  most  capable,  of  teaching  the 
English  Tongue  grammatically,  and  as  a  Language,  History,  Geography, 
Chronology,  Logick  and  Oratory  ;  which  Person  shall  be  stiled  the  ENGLISH 
MASTER. 

THE  Trustees  may  contract  with  the  English  Master  for  the  Term  of 
Five  Years,  or  less,  at  their  Discretion,  for  the  Sum  of  One  Hundred 
Pounds  a  Year. 

THE  English  Master  shall  be  obliged,  without  the  Assistance  of  any 
Tutor,  to  teach  Forty  Scholars  the  English  Tongue  grammatically, 
and  as  a  Language  ;  and  at  the  same  Time,  according  to  the  best  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         49 

Capacity,  to  instruct  them  in  History,  Geography,   Chronology,  Logick,  and 
Oratory ;  and  Sixty  Scholars  more  for  every  Tutor  provided  for  him. 

THE  Tutors  for  the  Latin  and  Greek  School,  shall  be  admitted,  and 
at  Pleasure  removed,  by  the  Trustees  and  the  Rector,  or  a  majority  of 
them. 

THE  Tutors  for  the  English  School,  shall  be  admitted,  and  at  Pleas- 
ure removed,  by  the  Trustees  and  the  English  Master,  or  a  majority  of  them. 

THE  Trustees  'shall  contract  with  each  Tutor,  to  pay  him  what  they 
shall  judge  proportionable  to  his  Capacity  and  Merit. 

NEITHER  the  Rector,  nor  English  Master  shall  be  removed,  unless 
disabled  by  sickness,  or  other  natural  Infirmity,  or  for  gross  voluntary 
Neglect  of  Duty,  continued  after  two  Admonitions  from  the  Trustees,  or 
for  committing  infamous  Crimes  ;  and  such  Removal  be  voted  by  three 
Fourths  of  the  Trustees  ;  after  which  their  Salaries  respectively  shall  cease. 

THE  Trustees  shall,  with  all  convenient  speed,  endeavour  to  engage 
Persons  capable  of  teaching  the  French,  Spanish,  and  German  Languages, 
Writing,  Arithmetick,  the  several  Branches  of  the  Mathematicks,  Natural 
and  Mechanic  Philosophy,  and  Drawing ;  who  shall  give  their  Attendance, 
as  soon  as  a  sufficient  Number  of  Scholars  shall  offer  to  be  instructed  in 
those  Parts  of  Learning  ;  and  be  paid  such  Salaries  and  Rewards,  as  the 
Trustees  shall  from  Time  to  Time  be  able  to  allow. 

EACH  Scholar  shall  pay  such  Sum  or  Sums,  quarterly,  according  to 
the  particular  Branches  of  Learning  they  shall  desire  to  be  taught,  as  the 
Trustees  shall  from  Time  to  Time  settle  and  appoint. 

No  Scholar  shall  be  admitted,  or  taught  within  the  Academy,  without 
the  Consent  of  the  major  Part  of  the  Trustees  in  Writing,  signed  with  their 
Names. 

IN  Case  of  the  Disability  of  the  Rector,  or  any  Master  established  on 
the  Foundation,  by  receiving  a  certain  Salary,  through  sickness,  or  any 
other  natural  Infirmity,  whereby  he  may  be  reduced  to  Poverty,  the  Trus- 
tees shall  have  Power  to  contribute  to  his  Support,  in  Proportion  to  his 
Distress  and  Merit,  and  the  Stock  in  their  Hands. 

FOR  the  Security  of  the  Trustees,  in  contracting  with  the  Rector, 
Masters  and  Tutors  ;  to  enable  them  to  provide  and  fit  up  Convenient 
Schools  ;  furnish  them  with  Books  of  general  Use,  that  may  be  too  expen- 
sive for  each  Scholar  ;  Maps,  Draughts,  and  other  Things,  generally  neces- 
sary, for  the  Improvement  of  the  Youth  ;  and  to  bear  the  incumbent 
Charges  that  will  unavoidably  attend  this  Undertaking,  especially  in  the 
Beginning  ;  the  Donations  of  all  Persons  inclined  to  encourage  it,  are  to 
be  chearfully  and  thankfully  accepted. 

THE  Academy  shall  be  open'd  with  all  convenient  speed,  by  Accept- 
ing the  first  good  Master  that  offers,  either  for  teaching  the  Latin  and 
Greek  ;  or  English,  under  the  Terms  above  proposed. 


5O         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ALL  Rules  for  the  Attendance  and  Duty  of  the  Masters,  the  Conduct 
of  the  Youth,  and  the  facilitating  their  Progress  in  Learning  and  Virtue, 
shall  be  framed  by  the  Masters,  in  Conjunction  with  the  Trustees. 

IF  the  Scholars  shall  hereafter  grow  very  numerous,  and  the  Funds 
be  sufficient,  the  Trustees  may  at  their  Discretion  augment  the  Salaries  of 
the  Rector  or  Masters. 

THE  Trustees,  to  increase  their  Stock,  may  let  their  Money  out  at 
Interest. 

IN  general,  the  Trustees  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  all  Money 
received  by  them,  as  they  shall  think  best  for  the  Advantage,  Promotion, 
and  even  Enlargement  of  this  design. 

THE  Trustees  may  hereafter  add  to  or  change  any  of  these  Constitu- 
tions ;  except  that  hereby  declared  to  be  invariable. 

ALL  Trustees,  Rectors,  Masters,  Tutors,  Clerks,  and  other  Ministers, 
hereafter  to  be  elected  or  appointed,  for  carrying  this  Undertaking  into 
Execution,  shall,  before  they  be  admitted  to  the  Exercise  of  their  respective 
Trusts  or  Duties,  sign  these  Constitutions,  or  some  others  to  be  hereafter 
framed  by  the  Trustees  in  their  stead,  in  Testimony  of  their  then  approving 
of,  and  resolving  to  observe  them. 

UPON  the  Death  or  Absence  as  aforesaid  of  any  Trustee,  the  remain- 
ing Trustees  shall  not  have  Authority  to  exercise  any  of  the  Powers  reposed 
in  them,  until  they  have  chosen  a  new  Trustee  in  his  Place,  and  such  new 
Trustee  shall  have  signed  the  established  Constitutions ;  which  if  he  shall 
refuse  to  do,  they  shall  proceed  to  elect  another,  and  so  toties  quoties,  until 
the  Person  elected  shall  sign  the  Constitutions. 

WHEN  the  Fund  is  sufficient  to  bear  the  charge,  which  it  is  hoped 
thro'  the  Boimty  and  Charity  of  well  disposed  Persons,  will  soon  come  to 
pass,  poor  children  shall  be  admitted,  and  taught  gratis,  what  shall  be 
thought  suitable  to  their  capacities  and  circumstances. 

IT  is  hoped  and  expected,  that  the  Trustees  will  make  it  their  Pleas- 
ure, and  in  some  Degree  their  Business,  to  visit  the  Academy  often,  to 
encourage  and  countenance  the  Youth,  countenance  and  assist  the  Masters, 
and,  by  all  Means  in  their  Power,  advance  the  Usefulness  and  Reputation 
of  the  Design ;  that  they  will  look  on  the  Students  as,  in  some  Measure, 
their  own  Children,  treat  them  with  Familiarity  and  Affection;  and  when 
they  have  behaved  well,  gone  thro'  their  Studies,  and  are  to  enter  the 
World,  they  shall  zealously  unite,  and  make  all  the  Interest  that  can  be 
made,  to  promote  and  establish  them,  whether  in  Business,  Offices,  Mar- 
riages, or  any  other  Thing  for  their  Advantage,  preferable  to  all  other 
Persons  whatsoever,  even  of  equal  merit. 

The  Trustees  shall  in  a  Body  visit  the  Academy  once  a  year  extraor- 
dinary, to  view  and  hear  the  Performances  and  Lectures  of  the  Scholars, 
in  such  Modes,  as  their  respective  Masters  shall  think  proper,  and  shall 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         51 

have  Power,  out  of  their  Stock,  to  make  Presents  to  the  most  meritorious 
Scholars,  according  to  their  several  Deserts. 

The  fourteenth  Day  of  November,  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord,  One 
Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Forty-nine  ; 

FOR  the  Encouragement  of  this  useful,  good  and  charitable  Under- 
taking, to  enable  the  Trustees  and  their  Successors  to  begin,  promote,  con- 
tinue and  enlarge  the  same,  humbly  hoping,  thro'  the  Favour  of  Almighty 
GOD,  and  the  Bounty  and  Patronage  of  pious  and  well-disposed  Persons, 
that  it  may  prove  of  great  and  lasting  Benefit  to  the  present  and  future 
rising  Generations  ;  WE  the  subscribers  do  promise  to  pay  to  William 
Colt-man,  the  Treasurer,  elected  according  to  the  above  Constitutions,  or 
to  his  Successor  or  Successors  for  the  Time  being,  the  several  sums  of 
Money  by  us  respectively  subscribed  to  be  paid,  at  the  Times  in  our  Sub- 
scriptions respectively  mentioned.  Witness  our  Hands. 

Per  Annum,  for  Five  Years, 

James  Hamilton,    Fifty    Pounds, ^50  oo  oo 

Thomas  Lawrence,  Fifteen  Pounds 15  oo  oo 

Joseph    Turner,  Twenty  Pounds, 20  oo  oo 

William   Allen,  Seventy-five  Pounds, 75  oo  oo 

William  Masters,   Twenty  Pounds, 20  oo  oo 

Lloyd  Zachary,  Twenty  Pounds, 20  oo  oo 

William  Plumsted,   Fifteen  Pounds, 15  oo  oo 

Abraham  Taylor,   Fifteen  Pounds, 15  oo  oo 

Samuel  AT  Call,  Junior,  Fifteen  Pounds, 15  oo  oo 

John  Inglis,  Ten  Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

Charles  Willing,  Fifteen  Pounds 15  oo  oo 

Thomas  Bond,  Fifteen   Pounds, 1 5  oo  oo 

Tench    Francis,   Ten  Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

William   Shippen,  Ten  Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

Benjamin    Franklin,   Ten    Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

Phineas  Bond,  Ten  Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

William   Coleman,  Ten  Pounds, 10  oo  oo 

Richard  Peters,  Ten  Pounds  , 10  oo  oo 

Joshua  Maddox,  Ten  Pounds 10  oo  oo 

Robert   Strettell,  Ten  Pounds 10  oo  oo 

Philip  Syng,  Six  Pounds 6  oo  oo 

Thomas  Leech,  Six  Pounds 6  oo  oo 

Jhomas    White,  Six  Pounds, 6  oo  oo 


52         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

On  Monday,  13  November,  1749,  nineteen  of  the  Trustees 
had  assembled  for  due  organization,  but  of  the  place  of  their 
meeting  we  are  not  told.  The  first  Minute  recites  : 

On  the  thirteenth  day  of  November  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  forty  and  nine,  the  following  persons,  to  wit,  Thomas 
Lawrence,  William  Allen,  John  Inglis,  Tench  Francis,  William  Masters, 
Lloyd  Zachary,  Samuel  M'  Call,  Junr,  Joseph  Turner,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Thomas  Leech,  William  Shippen,  Robert  Strettell,  Philip  Syng,  Charles 
Willing,  Phineas  Bond,  Richard  Peters,  Abraham  Taylor,  Thomas  Bond, 
and  Thomas  Hopkinson,  met,  and  having  read  and  approved  of  the  fore- 
going Constitutions,  signed  them  with  their  names,  and  thereby  took  upon 
themselves  the  execution  of  the  Trusts  in  those  Constitutions  expressed. 

Whereupon  Mr  Benjamin  Franklin  was  elected  President  and  Mr 
William  Coleman  Treasurer  for  the  ensuing  year. 

The  five  remaining  Trustees,  namely  James  Logan,  William 
Plumsted,  Joshua  Maddox,  Thomas  White,  and  William  Cole- 
man, appeared  at  the  next  meeting,  which  did  not  occur  until 
26  December,  and  signed  the  Constitutions.  This  was  the  only 
meeting  of  the  Trustees  attended  by  James  Logan,  although  he 
remained  a  Trustee  until  his  death  two  years  later  ;  his  absences, 
before  referred  to,  were  due  to  declining  years  and  ill  health  and 
not  from  want  of  interest  in  a  work  whose  character  he  was  in 
sympathy  with  and  whose  propounder  he  warmly  supported. 
Here  we  can  quote  Proud's  reference  to  the  two  greater 
or  public  seminaries  of  Philadelphia,  at  this  time,  as  follows  : 

Besides  the  numerous  private  Schools,  for  the  education  of  youth,  in 
this  city,  there  are  two  public  seminaries  of  learning,  incorporated  by 
charter,  and  provided  with  funds  ;  the  first,  in  order  of  time,  is  that  of  the 
Quakers,  already  mentioned  in  another  place,  incorporated  by  the  first 
Proprietor,  William  Penn ;  *****  The  second  is  the  College 
and  Academy  of  Philadelphia,  of  a  much  later  standing,  and  not  existing 
as  such,  before  the  year  1749  ;  but  greatly  improved  of  late  years  ;  and  is 
likely,  if  its  present  prudent  management  be  continued,  to  become  here- 
after, the  most  considerable  of  the  kind,  perhaps,  in  British  America  :  the 
corporation  consists  of  twenty  four  members,  called  Trustees ;  they  have  a 
large  commodious  building,  on  the  West  Side  of  Fourth  Street,  near  Mul- 
berry Street,  where  the  different  branches  of  learning  and  science  are 
taught,  in  the  various  parts  of  the  institution.1 


1  History  of  Pennsylvania,  ii.  281.      1st  edition,  1797. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         53 


XI 

Before  we  enter  upon  the  further  proceedings  of  the  Trus- 
tees, let  us  inform  ourselves  upon  the  men,  in  their  personal  or 
public  characters,  who  now  took  upon  themselves  this  Trust, 
and  who  laid  upon  strong  foundations  an  edifice  of  learning 
whose  history  their  well  matured  plans  make  it  worth  our  while 
to  pursue  through  these  its  earliest  years.  In  enumerating  them 
we  follow  the  order  of  their  precedence  which  was  observed  in 
the  deed  of  conveyance  to  them  of  the  Tenth  street  property  in 
1750  and  followed  in  their  first  minutes;  in  the  conveyance 
they  are  thus  recited  and  described  :  l 

James  Logan,  Esquire  Robert  Strettell,  Esquire 

Thomas  Lawrence,  Esquire  Philip  Syng,  Silversmith 

William  Allen,  Esquire  Charles  Willing,  Esquire 

John  Inglis,  Merchant  Phineas    Bond,    Practitioner 
Tench  Francis,  Esquire  in  Physic 

William  Masters,  Esquire  Richard  Peters,  Esquire 

Lloyd  Zachary,  Practitioner  Abraham  Taylor,  Esquire 

in  Physic  Thomas  Bond,    Practitioner 
Samuel  M'Call,  jr,  Merchant  in  Physic 

Joseph  Turner,  Esquire  Thomas  Hopkinson,  Esquire 

Benjamin  Franklin,  Printer  William  Plumsted,  Esquire 

Thomas  Leech,  Merchant  Joshua  Maddox,  Esquire 

William  Shippen,  Practitioner  Thomas  White,  Esquire 

in  Physic  William  Coleman,  Merchant 

JAMES  LOGAN,  born  in  Ireland  in  1674  of  honorable  Scotch 
lineage,  was  now  seventy-five  years  of  age,  and  the  foremost 
man  in  the  province,  eminent  in  public  life,  and  a  faithful 
adherent  of  the  dominant  religion.  He  had  been  the  patient 


1  I  am  greatly  indebted  in  compiling  the  personal  notices  of  many  of  the 
Trustees  to  that  admirable  compendium  of  local  biography  and  genealogy  7 he  Pro- 
vincial Councillors  of  Pennsylvania  by  Mr.  Charles  Penrose  Keith  of  the  class  of 
1873.  And  for  records  of  civic  and  judicial  life,  reference  is  also  made  to  Mr.  John 
Hill  Martin's  Bunch  and  Bar  of  Philadelphia. 


54         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Secretary  to  William  Penn  who  later  made  him  Provincial  Sec- 
retary, Commissioner  of  Property,  and  Receiver  General.  He 
also  in  turn  was  Recorder  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  Presiding 
Judge  of  Common  Pleas,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Province,  and  as 
President  of  the  Council  between  the  death  of  Governor  Gordon 
in  1736  and  the  arrival  of  Governor  Thomas  in  1738  he  gov- 
erned the  province.  "  Fidelity,  integrity,  and  disinterestedness 
were  eminently  conspicuous  in  his  character,  which  was  indeed 
of  that  sterling  worth  that  needs  no  meretricious  ornament."2 
Mr.  J.  Francis  Fisher  says  of  him, 

A  history  of  James  Logan's  public  life  would  be  that  of  Pennsylvania 
during  the  first  forty  years  of  the  last  century.  Venerating  William  Penn, 
with  whose  noble  and  generous  nature  he  was  well  acquainted,  he  stood  up 
at  all  times  in  his  defence  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Assembly  ; 
and,  if  he  forfeited  his  popularity,  and  endured  calumny  and  persecution, 
he  preserved  his  fidelity,  the  confidence  of  his  employers,  and  the  respect 
of  all  good  men.  Weary  of  the  burden  of  public  office,  he  retired  in  1738 
from  all  his  salaried  employments,  remaining  only  a  short  time  longer  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  Council.  At  his  estate,  called  Stenton,  near 
Germantown,  he  passed  in  retirement  the  remainder  of  his  days,  devoted 
to  agriculture  and  his  favorite  studies.3 

At  an  early  age  he  showed  great  proficiency  in  classics, 
comprehending  Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew  before  he  was  thirteen 
years  of  age.  His  leisure  days  after  his  retirement  from  public 
concern  found  ample  employment  in  his  classical  studies  as  well 
as  his  interests  in  matters  of  science.  His  rare  collection 
of  books  "  he  left  a  legacy  to  the  public,  such  at  least  was  his 
intention  and  his  children  after  his  death  fulfilled  his  bequest,"  4 
and  these  testify  to  his  wide  reading  and  general  knowledge.  It 
was  while  the  humble  glazier,  Thomas  Godfrey,  was  working  at 


2  Deborah  Logan  in  Penn  and  Logan  Correspondence,  i.  liv. 

3  Contributed  to  Sparks,  vii.  25,  and  copied  by  Bigelow,  ii.  94.     Mr.  Fisher 
was  a  descendant  through  his  father  from  James  Logan,  and  through  his  mother  from 
two  other  Trustees,  Tench  Francis  and  Charles  Willing.     He  was  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  in  1825  as  was  also  his  cousin  Dr.  Charles  Willing.     See  a  letter  addressed 
to  them  while  at  Harvard  by  Bishop  White  25  October,  1822.     Memoir  by  Wilson, 
p.  414.     Air.   Fisher  was  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  and  a 
Vice  President  of  the   Pennsylvania   Historical  Society ;  he  died  21  January,    1873 
aged  67  years. 

4  Deborah  Logan  P.  &.  L.  Corres.  i.  Iv. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         55 

Stenton  and  had  his  thoughtful  attention  drawn  by  a  falling  piece 
of  glass,  that  there  sprang  up  in  his  mind  the  ideas  of  the  Quad- 
rant, which  he  first  imparted  to  Logan,  who  found  him  immedi- 
ately after  this  incident  in  his  library  consulting  a  volume  of  New- 
ton to  aid  him  in  elucidating  his  thoughts ;  and  it  was  due  to 
Logan's  help  in  furthering  his  experiments,  that  success  was 
reached  and  due  honor  granted  Godfrey  as  the  inventor  of  the 
Quadrant,  preceding  by  two  years  the  claim  of  Hadley  to  the 
discovery.5 

Logan  was  a  staunch  Friend  but  he  could  not  fully  share 
in  the  Society's  absolute  views  on  non  resistance ;  and  quite 
consistently  he  not  only  took  an  interest  in  but  also  contributed  to 
the  Association  which  Franklin  in  1747  originated  for  the  defence 
of  the  city  against  foreign  invasion  which  was  then  feared,  and 
for  which  the  Friends,  then  controlling  the  Assembly,  would 
appropriate  no  funds.  Logan  writes  to  Franklin  3  December, 
1747  :6 

I  have  expected  to  see  thee  here  for  several  weeks,  according  to  my 
son's  information,  with  Euclid's  title  page  printed,  and  my  Mattaire's  Lives 
of  the  Stephenses  ;  but  it  is  probable  thy  thoughts  of  thy  new  excellent 
project  have  in  some  measure  diverted  thee,  to  which  I  most  heartily  wish 
all  possible  success.  *  *  *  Ever  since  I  have  had  the  power  of  think- 
ing, I  have  clearly  seen  that  government  without  arms  is  an  inconsistency, 
for  Friends  spare  no  pains  to  get  and  accumulate  estates,  and  are  yet 
against  defending  them,  though  these  very  estates  are  in  a  great  measure 
the  sole  cause  of  their  being  invaded,  as  I  showed  to  our  Yearly  Meeting, 
last  September  was  six  years,  in  a  paper  then  printed  But  I  request  to  be 
informed,  as  soon  as  thou  hast  any  leisure,  what  measures  are  proposed  to 
furnish  small  arms,  powder,  and  ball  to  those  in  the  country  ;  and  particu- 
larly what  measures  are  taken  to  defend  our  river,  especially  at  the  Red 
Bank,  on  the  Jersey  side,  and  on  our  own,  where  there  ought  not  to  be  less 
than  forty  guns,  from  six  to  twelve  pounders.  What  gunners  are  to  be 
depended  on  ?  Thy  project  of  a  lottery  to  clear  ^3000.  is  excellent,  and 
I  hope  it  will  be  speedily  filled  ;  nor  shall  I  be  wanting.  But  thou  wilt 
answer  all  these  questions  and  much  more,  if  thou  wilt  visit  me  here,  as  on 
First  day,  to  dine  with  me,  and  thou  wilt  exceedingly  oblige  thy  very  loving 
friend,  James  Logan. 


5  Deborah  Logan  P.  &  L.  Corres.  i.  liv.  6  Sparks,  vii.  24. 


56         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

To  which  in  a  letter  written  next  day  Franklin  replied  : 7 

I  am  heartily  glad  you  approve  of  our  proceedings.  *  *  *  I 
have  not  time  to  write  larger,  nor  to  wait  on  you  till  next  week.  In  general 
all  goes  well,  and  there  is  a  surprising  unanimity  in  all  ranks.  Near  eight 
hundred  have  signed  the  association,  and  more  are  signing  hourly.  One 
company  of  Dutch  is  complete. 

In  his  autobiography  he  says  :  "  Mr.  Logan  put  into  my 
hands  Sixty  pounds  to  be  laid  out  in  lottery  tickets  for  the  bat- 
tery, with  directions  to  apply  what  prizes  might  be  drawn  wholly 
to  that  service."  ' 

Logan's  classical  studies  were  not  intermitted  during  his 
public  career,  for  it  was  in  1734  he  undertook  his  well  known 
translation  of  Cicero's  De  Senectute,  which  with  explanatory  Notes 
was  published  for  him  by  Franklin  in  1744.  Franklin  makes  a 
preface  to  the  book,  entitled  the  "  printer  to  the  reader,"  and 
says  : 

some  friends,  among  whom  I  had  the  honor  to  be  ranked,  obtained 
copies  of  it  in  MS.  And,  as  I  believed  it  to  be  in  itself  equal  at  least,  if 
not  far  preferable  to  any  other  translation  of  the  same  piece  extant  in  our 
language,  besides  the  advantage  it  has  of  so  many  valuable  notes,  which 
at  the  same  time  they  clear  up  the  text,  are  highly  instructive  and  enter- 
taining, I  resolved  to  give  it  an  impression,  being  confident  that  the  public 
would  not  unfavorably  receive  it. 

He  closed  by  adding 

his  hearty  wish  that  this  first  translation  of  a  classic  in  this  Western  World 
may  be  followed  with  many  others,  performed  with  equal  judgment  and 
success  ;  and  be  a  happy  omen,  that  Philadelphia  shall  become  the  seat  of 
the  American  muses. 

Had  Franklin  known  of  George  Sandy's  translation  of 
Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  in  Virginia  when  Treasurer  of  that 
colony,  more  than  a  century  before,  he  would  not  have  claimed 
for  Logan  the  honor  of  making  the  first  American  translation  of 
a  classic,  but  while  that  was  "  the  first  English  literary  produc- 
tion penned  in  America,  at  least  which  has  any  rank  or  name 
in  the  general  history  of  literature,"  9  it  was  printed  in  London  in 
1626,  and  it  may  be  claimed  for  Logan  that  his  was  the  first 
American  print  of  such  a  translation.  Other  translations  of 

7  Bigelow,  ii.  94.  8  Ibid,  i.  219.  9  Duyckinck,  i,  1,77. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          57 

Logan  from  the  ancient  and  essays  on  matters  of  practical 
import  testify  to  his  learning  and  industry.  With  such  training 
and  tastes  he  would  naturally  welcome  any  effort  to  secure  and 
extend  the  advantages  of  learning  to  the  young  generations 
around  him,  and  having  confidence  in  Franklin's  executive 
ability  to  carry  to  maturity  any  scheme  he  would  formulate  in 
furtherance  of  this,  and  reliance  on  his  practical  judgment,  he 
naturally  gave  his  interest  and  influence  to  it ;  and  his  name 
heading  the  new  trust  in  compliance  with  Franklin's  desire,  was 
in  itself  an  augury  of  success  to  the  enterprise.  Logan  writes 
to  Peter  Collinson  in  London  I  July  1749,  "Benjamin  Franklin 
has  been  here  to  day,  to  show  me  some  new  curiosities  in  elec- 
tricity, but  the  weather  was  too  warm  and  moist."  And  on  20 
October 

our  most  ingenious  printer  and  postmaster,  Benjamin  Franklin,  has 
the  clearest  understanding,  with  as  extreme  modesty  as  any  man  I  know 
here.  Thou  hast  seen  several  of  his  pieces  on  electricity,  wherein  he 
almost  excels  you  all. 

His  practical  interest  in  the  new  Academy  was  evidenced 
in  his  early  offer  to  the  Trustees  of  "  the  gift  of  a  lot  of  ground 
on  Sixth  Street  to  erect  an  Academy  upon,  provided  it  should 
be  built  within  the  Term  of  Fourteen  Years."  This  lot  was 
opposite  the  State  House  Square,  probably  immediately  North 
of  the  building  for  his  Library  which  Logan  had  before  this  date 
erected  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Walnut  and  Sixth  Streets,  at 
that  time  considered  out  of  town.  l°  To  this  however 
the  President  was  desired  to  acquaint  Mr.  Logan  [at  the  meeting  of  26 
December]  that  the  Trustees  had  a  most  grateful  sense  of  his  regard  to  the 


10  In  a  note  to  the  Proposals  of  1749,  Franklin  refers  to  this  Library,  viz: 
"  Besides  the  English  Library  begun  and  carried  on  by  subscription  in  Philadelphia, 
we  may  expect  the  Benefit  of  another  much  more  valuable  in  the  Learned  Languages, 
which  has  been  many  years  collecting  with  the  greatest  Care,  by  a  Gentleman  dis- 
tinguish'd  for  his  Universal  Knowledge,  no  less  than  for  his  Judgment  in  Books. 
It  contains  many  hundred  Volumes  of  the  best  Authors  in  the  best  Editions,  among 
which  are,  *  *  *  .  A  handsome  Building  about  60  feet  in  front,  is  now  erected 
in  this  city,  at  the  private  Expense  of  that  Gentleman,  for  the  Reception  of  this 
Library,  where  it  is  soon  to  be  deposited,  and  remain  for  the  publick  use  with  a 
valuable  yearly  Income  duly  to  enlarge  it ;  and  I  have  his  Permission  to  mention  it 
as  an  Encouragement  to  the  propos'd  Academy ;  to  which  this  noble  Benefaction 
will  doubtless  be  of  the  greatest  Advantage,  as  not  only  the  Students,  but  even  the 
Masters  themselves,  may  very  much  improve  by  it."  Proposals,  p.  8. 


58         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Academy,  but  as  the  New  Building  was  in  all  respects  better  suited  to 
their  present  circumstances  and  future  views,  they  could  only  return  him 
their  sincere  thanks  for  his  kind  and  generous  offer. 

In  his  late  years  he  suffered  from  ill  health,  and  on  3 1  October, 
1751  he  died  at  Stenton.  The  new  Trustee  selected  in  his 
place  was  Isaac  Norris,  his  son-in-law. 

Franklin's  obituary  to  him  which  appeared  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Gazette  of  7  November  fittingly  records  his  estimation  of 
the  man  who  was  first  in  the  list  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  : 

Thursday  last,  after  a  long  Indisposition,  died  the  honourable  JAMES 
LOGAN,  Esq. :  in  the  yyth  Year  of  his  Age,  and  on  Saturday  his  Remains 
were  decently  interr'd  in  the  Friends  Burying  ground  in  this  city,  the 
Funeral  being  respectfully  attended  by  the  principal  Gentlemen  and  In- 
habitants of  Philadelphia  and  the  neighbouring  Country.  His  Life  was 
for  the  most  Part  a  Life  of  Business,  tho'  he  had  always  been  passionately 
fond  of  study.  He  had  borne  the  Several  Offices  of  Provincial  Secretary, 
Commissioner  of  Property,  Chief  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  for  near 
two  Years  govern'd  the  Province  as  President  of  the  Council,  in  all  which 
publick  Stations,  as  well  as  in  private  Life,  he  behav'd  with  unblemish'd 
Integrity  :  But  some  Years  before  his  Death  he  retired  from  publick 
Affairs  to  Stenton  his  Country  Seat,  where  he  enjoy 'd  among  his  Books 
that  Leisure  which  Men  of  Letters  so  earnestly  desire.  He  was  thoroughly 
versed  both  in  ancient  and  modern  Learning,  acquainted  with  the  oriental 
Tongues,  a  Master  of  the  Greek  and  Latin,  French  and  Italian  Languages, 
deeply  skilled  in  the  Mathematical  Sciences,  and  in  Natural  and  Moral 
Philosophy,  as  several  Pieces  of  his  writing  witness,  which  have  been 
repeatedly  printed  in  Divers  Parts  of  Europe,  and  are  highly  esteemed  by 
the  Learned.  But  the  most  noble  Monument  of  his  Wisdom,  Publick 
Spirit,  Benevolence  and  affectionate  Regard  to  the  People  of  Pennsylvania 
is  his  LIBRARY  ;  which  he  has  been  collecting  these  50  Years  past,  with 
the  greatest  Care  and  Judgment,  intending  it  a  Benefaction  to  the  Publick 
for  the  Increase  of  Knowledge,  and  for  the  common  Use  and  Benefit  of  all 
Lovers  of  Learning.  It  contains  the  best  Editions  of  the  best  Books  in 
various  Languages,  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  is  without  Doubt  the  largest, 
and  by  far  the  most  valuable  Collection  of  the  Kind  in  this  Part  of  the 
World,  and  will  convey  the  name  of  LOGAN  thro'  ages  with  Honour,  to  the 
latest  posterity. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         59 

THOMAS  LAWRENCE  was  born  in  New  York  4  September, 
1689,  the  grandson  of  Thomas  Laurenszen,  whose  arrival  in 
New  York  in  1662  and  marriage  in  the  year  following  are  found 
in  the  records  of  the  Old  Dutch  Church,  where  is  also  the  record 
of  Thomas'  baptism  on  8  September,  1689.  He  appears  to  have 
settled  in  Philadelphia  about  the  year  1720,  shortly  after  his 
marriage.  He  here  entered  into  mercantile  life,  James  Logan 
mentioning  him  as  associated  with  him  in  shipping,  and  in  1730 
he  became  partner  of  Edward  Shippen,  the  elder  brother  of 
Dr.  William  Shippen,  and  who  was  later  known  as  Edward 
Shippen  of  Lancaster,  whither  he  removed  about  1752,  the 
firm  being  Shippen  &  Lawrence.  He  was  elected  a  Common 
Councilman  3  October,  1722,  an  Alderman  6  October,  1724, 
and  Mayor  of  the  City  in  1728,  1734,  1749,  and  1753,  during 
which  last  incumbency  he  died.  Governor  Gordon  called  him 
to  a  seat  in  the  Provincial  Council  in  April  1727,  but  he  did  not 
qualify  until  10  May  1728.  In  September,  1745  he  was  deputed 
one  of  the  Commissioners  from  Pennsylvania  to  treat  with  the 
Six  Nations  at  Albany.  When  Franklin  declined  the  Lieutenant 
Colonelcy  of  the  Philadelphia  Association,  he  recommended,  his 
autobiography  tells  us,  "  Mr.  Lawrence,  a  fine  person,  and  a 
man  of  influence,  who  was  accordingly  appointed."  He  was 
for  some  time  Judge  of  the  County  Court ;  and  in  1721  and  '22 
a  Warden  of  Christ  Church.  He  was  a  frequent  attendant  on 
the  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  rarely  missing  one  in  their  first 
two  years,  notwithstanding  his  business  engagements  and  his 
manifold  public  duties,  in  those  securing  a  handsome  prop- 
erty for  his  children  and  in  these  a  constantly  widening 
reputation  and  influence.  The  last  meeting  of  the  Trustees  he 
attended  was  on  17  November,  1753.  He  died  21  April,  1754, 
and  was  buried  in  the  Family  Vault  in  Christ  Church  Burying 
Ground,  not  far  from  the  spot  where  the  remains  of  Franklin 
were  laid  thirty-five  years  later.  We  can  read  the  latter's  author- 
ship in  the  obituary  notice  on  him  which  appeared  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette  on  25  April,  1754. 

Last  Sunday,  after  a  tedious  fit  of   Sickness,  died  here,  very  much 
11  Higelow,  i.  214. 


60         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lamented,  Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq.  He  had  the  Honour  to  be  a  Member 
of  the  Council  of  this  Province,  was  President  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  for  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  had  been  five  times  elected  Mayor 
of  this  City,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  these  Offices  ended  his  life.  Charac- 
ters are  extremely  delicate,  and  few  or  none  drawn  with  Exactness  and 
at  Length,  are  free  of  Blemish.  Of  this  Gentleman  we  think  it  may  be 
truly  said,  he  was  an  affectionate  Husband,  a  tender  Parent,  a  kind  indul- 
gent Master,  and  a  faithful  Friend.  The  Funeral  was  respectfully  attended 
on  Tuesday  Evening  by  a  great  number  of  the  principal  Inhabitants  of  the 
Place,  who  justly  regret  the  Death  of  so  able  and  diligent  a  Magistrate  as 
a  public  loss. 

But  the  same  hand  did  not  write  the  Epitaph  on  his  Tomb 

Stone,  namely 

In  Memory  of 

Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq 

An  eminent  Merchant 

A  faithful  Counsellor 

An  active  Magistrate 

Of  Pennsylvania 

Whose  private  virtues  endeared  him  to  his  family  and  friends  ; 

Whose  public  conduct  gained  him  respect  and  esteem. 

Expecting  everlasting  life  he  ended  this 

During  his  ninth  Mayorality  of  this  city 

the  25*  day  of  April  MDCCLIIII. 

Aged  64  years 

Mr.  Lawrence  married  at  Raritan  25  May,  1719,  his  kins- 
woman Rachel,  daughter  of  Cornelius  Longfield  of  New  Bruns- 
wick whose  daughter  Catherine  married  John  Cox,  and  their 
son  John  Cox  of  Bloomsbury  became  father  in  law  to  Hon. 
Horace  Binney  and  John  Redman  Coxe,  M.  D.  Of  the  chil- 
dren of  Thomas  and  Rachel  Lawrence,  the  eldest  Thomas  was 
twice  Mayor  of  the  City,  in  1/58  and  1764;  the  second,  John, 
was  Mayor  from  1765  to  1767,  and  in  the  latter  year  was 
appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  in  1750  married 
the  daughter  of  Tench  Francis,  a  Trustee  of  the  Academy  and 
College  ;  and  their  daughter  Mary  married  a  few  months  after  her 
father's  death  William  Masters,  also  a  Trustee.  It  was  she 
who,  when  the  Widow  Masters — her  husband  had  died  in  1760 — , 
built  the  house  on  the  south  side  of  Market  Street  below  Sixth, 
which  her  son-in-law,  Richard  Penn  the  Councillor,  Sir  William 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         61 

Howe  during  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  British,  and 
Benedict  Arnold  successively  occupied,  and  on  the  site  of  which 
Robert  Morris  built  the  house  in  which  Washington  resided 
during  his  Presidency. 

Mr.  Lawrence's  place  in  the  Board  was  filled  by  the  elec- 
tion at  the  September  meeting  of  the  Hon.  James  Hamilton, 
Governor  of  the  Province.  He  had  been  a  faithful  attendant  at 
its  meetings;  the  last  one  he  attended  was  on  17  November, 
1753,  just  prior  to  his  fatal  illness. 

WILLIAM  ALLEN  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  5  August,  1704, 
the  son  of  William  Allen  a  merchant  in  that  city  and  a  native  of 
Ireland  who  married  about  1700,  Mary  daughter  of  Thomas 
Budd.  Mrs.  Allen's  sister  Rose  became  the  wife  of  Joseph 
Shippen  and  step  mother  to  Dr.  William  Shippen.  His  father 
brought  William  up  to  the  study  of  law,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1725,  the  son  appears  to  have  been  in  London  pursuing 
these  studies. 

The  father's  death,  however,  hastened  his  return  home,  for 
we  find  him  in  Philadelphia  prior  to  September  1726,  as  his 
signature  appears  to  the  agreement  of  the  merchants  and  chief 
citizens  to  take  the  money  of  the  Lower  Counties  at  their  face 
value.  He  now  engaged  in  trade,  relinquishing  the  Law.  He 
was  elected  a  Common  Councilman  of  Philadelphia  3  October, 
1727.  In  1731  he  became  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  serving 
until  1739.  In  1730  he  secured  property  for  the  new  State 
House  on  Chestnut  Street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets,  his 
father-in-law  Andrew  Hamilton,  Thomas  Lawrence,  and  Dr. 
John  Kearsley  being  the  Trustees  of  the  State  House  fund  ;  he 
advanced  money  for  the  purchase  of  certain  of  the  lots,  taking 
the  title  in  his  own  name  until  the  Province  reimbursed  him. 
In  1732  the  building  appears  to  have  been  begun. 

He  was  chosen  Mayor  of  the  city  in  October,  1735  ;  and  at 
the  close  of  his  term,  in  the  Hall  of  Assembly  now  just  finished, 
he  opened  by  a  collation  customary  from  the  outgoing  Mayor. 
This  must  have  been  had  in  one  of  the  lower  rooms,  the  upper 
story  not  being  yet  completed.  Franklin  gives  us  a  participant's 


62         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

account  of  this  notable  feast  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  30 
September,  1736  : 

Thursday  last  William  Allen,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  this  city  for  the  year 
past  made  a  Feast  for  his  citizens  at  the  Statehouse,  to  which  all  the 
Strangers  in  Town  of  Note  were  also  invited.  Those  who  are  Judges  of 
such  Things  say  That  considering  the  Delicacy  of  the  Viands,  the 
Excellency  of  the  Wines,  the  great  Number  of  Guests,  and  yet  the  Easiness 
and  Order  with  which  the  Whole  was  conducted,  it  was  the  most  grand 
and  the  most  elegant  Entertainment  that  has  been  made  in  these  Parts  of 
America. 

Mr.  Allen  became  the  partner  of  Joseph  Turner,  also  with 
him  a  Trustee  of  the  Academy,  and  in  his  business  he  was  very 
successful  and  amassed  a  fortune  which  was  enlarged  by  fortu- 
nate land  investments.  He  was  appointed  Recorder  of  Deeds 
by  the  Common  Council,  7  August,  1741,  succeeding  therein  his 
father-in-law  Andrew  Hamilton  who  had  died  4  August.  In  the 
local  struggle  to  secure  proper  appropriations  from  the  Quaker 
Assembly  to  put  the  colony  in  a  state  of  defence  against  threat- 
ened enemies,  for  the  war  of  England  with  Spain  promised  to 
involve  the  American  provinces  in  its  issues,  Allen  became  the 
head  of  the  anti-Quaker  party,  but  the  result  of  what  was  long 
known  as  the  bloody  election  of  1742  was  the  return  of  the 
leader  of  the  other  party,  Isaac  Norris,  to  the  Assembly  ;  but  as 
Recorder  he  could  maintain  the  policy  of  the  city  in  support  of 
the  Governor  in  his  struggle  against  Norris'  friends  in  the 
Assembly.  Yet,  but  seven  years  later,  these  two  united  in  sup- 
port of  Franklin's  efforts  to  establish  the  great  educational  insti- 
tution he  had  been  planning.  He  continued  Recorder  of  the 
City,  then  an  important  judicial  office,  until  2  October,  1750, 
when  he  resigned  the  office  having  been  appointed  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province.  "  He  was  the  only 
Chief  Justice  before  the  Revolution  who  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  only  one  before  or  since  excepting  Shippen 
and  Sharswood  who  has  been  a  native  of  Philadelphia."  He, 
however,  continued  his  business  interests  uninterruptedly,  and 
from  1756  up  to  the  Revolution  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly 
from  Cumberland  County.  About  1750  his  country  seat  was 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         63 

established  at  Mount  Airy,  now  in  the  Twenty-second  Ward 
of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  possession  of  the  family 
of  the  late  James  Gowen,  Esquire.  In  1765  he  laid  out  a  town 
in  Northampton  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  a  tract  of  land  lying 
on  the  Lehigh  River,  which  we  now  know  as  the  flourishing 
city  of  Allentown. 

Allen  was  a  public  spirited  man,  generous  with  his  means, 
giving  his  services  as  Chief  Justice  gratuitously  that  he  might 
devote  the  salary  of  the  station  to  charities.  Besides  his 
advances  on  the  State  House  purchases,  he  advanced  on  one 
occasion  a  good  part  of  the  tax  payable  by  the  Proprietaries 
under  a  bill  proposed  for  raising  revenue,  in  the  deadlock 
between  the  Lieutenant  Governor  and  the  Assembly,  the  former 
pressing  for  money  for  military  uses,  and  not  being  free  to  con- 
sent to  a  law  which  included  the  Proprietary  estates  in  the 
assessment  for  taxation,  and  the  Assembly  refusing  to  vote  the 
means  of  defence  unless  such  assessment  with  taxation  was 
agreed  to ;  the  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia  made  up  the  sum 
which  it  was  estimated  would  be  due  from  the  Proprietaries,  and 
then  the  Assembly  passed  the  necessary  money  bills.  When  in 
England  on  a  visit  in  1763  he  labored  with  the  home  authorities 
against  any  stamp  duty,  and  to  him  was  given  the  credit  of 
securing  the  postponement  of  its  consideration  to  another  session 
of  Parliament.  He  joined  the  American  Philosophical  Society 
shortly  after  its  reorganization  in  1769,  as  did  also  his  three 
sons. 

His  presence  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  was  suffi- 
ciently uniform  to  attest  his  continued  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
the  institution,  though  his  regular  attendance  at  the  Trustees' 
meetings  in  the  early  years  of  its  work  was  more  marked  and 
regular.  But  amid  all  his  public  duties  he  attended  at  intervals, 
and  the  last  meeting  we  find  his  name  recorded  was  I  June, 
1779,  a  few  months  prior  to  the  abrogation  of  the  charter.  He 
was  one  of  the  organisers  of  St.  John's  Lodge  Philadelphia,  and 
in  1732  was  elected  Grand  Master  for  one  year.12  He  was  after- 


l-  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  24  June,  1732. 


64         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

wards  appointed  Provincial  Grand  Master,  by  the  Grand  Master  of 
England  in  1750.  He  and  Franklin  were  now  making  a  diver- 
gence in  their  public  paths  ;  the  sharpness  of  the  political  contests 
of  the  time  began  to  cut  into  all  relations  of  life  :  while  Allen's 
sympathies  were  naturally  with  the  Proprietaries,  Franklin's  were 
with  the  people  ;  and  though  they  had  labored  side  by  side  to 
induce  the  Proprietaries  to  submit  their  lands  to  general  taxation 
for  the  public  weal,  they  separated,  because  while  one  saw  in 
the  attitude  of  resistance  a  special  though  limited  cause  of 
complaint,  the  other  found  in  it  heated  controversies.  It  gave 
rise  to  the  germs  of  those  broader  views  which  were  the  basis 
of  all  Franklin's  services  in  behalf  of  his  country ;  Allen  saw 
only  the  present  popular  clamor  against  the  Proprietaries ;  the 
other  with  a  wiser  apprehension  saw  that  greater  and  more  lasting 
principles  were  involved,  out  of  which  grew  further  those 
feelings  in  his  mind  of  personal  disrespect  for  the  Penns  which 
continued  with  him  through  life,  and  which  would  necessarily 
in  some  measure  alienate  those  friends  of  his,  such  as  Allen  whose 
friendship  for  the  Penn  family  continued  unbroken,  strongly 
cemented  as  it  was  by  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter  Anne 
in  1 766  to  John  Penn,  then  a  Councillor  and  afterwards  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania.  Allen  misconceived  Franklin's  course  in  regard 
to  the  Stamp  Act,  and  in  his  absence  abroad  charged  him  with 
double  dealing  in  the  matter;  yet  when  Allen  called  him  "that 
Goliath,"  nothing  more  need  be  added  showing  his  opinion  and 
perhaps  fear  of  the  ability  and  powers  of  this  remarkable  man.13 
William  Allen  in  the  preliminary  skirmishes  of  the  Revolu- 
tion sided  with  the  Colonies,  and  he  went  so  far  as  to  donate 
shot  to  the  Council  of  Safety.  But  his  efforts  to  maintain  peace 
between  them  and  the  mother  country  drew  him  away  from 
the  thought  of  a  bloody  contest,  and  as  there  could  be  no 
midway,  his  alienation  from  his  country's  cause  was  com- 
plete. He  resigned  the  Chief  Justiceship  in  1774.  He  retained 
his  seat  in  the  Assembly  as  late  as  June,  1776,  but  it  is 
thought  he  went  abroad  shortly  after.  However,  he  was  in 

13  See  his  letters     in   The  Burd  Papers  for  evidences  of  his  later  feelings 
against  Franklin. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNYSLVANIA.         65 

Philadelphia  a  few  months  later,  as  he  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  on  3  I  October,  and  again  his  presence  is  recorded  at 
the  three  meetings  in  March  1777.  This  would  seem  to  refute 
the  statement  which  has  been  accepted  that  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia  on  the  entrance  of  the  British  troops  in  September, 
1777.  We  find  him  also  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  in 
February,  March,  May,  and  June  1779.  He  died  6  September, 
1780;  and  it  is  believed  his  death  occurred  in  Philadelphia,  or 
at  Mount  Airy.  By  a  codicil  to  his  will  dated  i  December, 
1779  he  freed  all  his  slaves. 

Chief  Justice  Allen  married  16  February,  1734,  Margaret 
only  daughter  of  Andrew  Hamilton,  the  Councillor,  the  most 
eminent  lawyer  of  his  time  in  Pennsylvania,  who  died  in 
1741.  Her  only  brothers  James  and  Andrew  Hamilton  were 
also  Councillors,  and  the  former  was  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the 
Province  from  1748  to  1754  and  died  unmarried.  Andrew  was 
elected  a  Trustee  in  1754  of  the  Academy,  in  the  vacancy  made 
by  the  death  of  Thomas  Lawrence.  His  second  son  William 
Hamilton  who  was  born  in  1745  was  the  builder  of  the  beauti- 
fully located  and  well  known  Woodland  Mansion,  near  the 
University  Buildings,  where  he  died  in  1813.  Of  William  and 
Margaret  Allen's  children,  besides  Anne  who  married  John 
Penn,  there  was  another  daughter  Margaret  who  married  in  1771 
James  DeLancey  eldest  son  of  James  DeLancey,  Chief  Justice 
and  Governor  of  New  York,  whose  second  son  John  Peter 
DeLancey  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  William  Heathcote 
DeLancey,  D.  D.,  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  from 
1828  to  1833.  Of  their  three  sons,  Andrew  married  Sarah 
Coxe,  granddaughter  of  Tench  Francis,  and  was  himself  a  Coun- 
cillor in  1770,  but  becoming  a  loyalist,  as  was  his  father,  went 
abroad  and  died  in  London  in  1825  ;  and  James,  whose  wife 
was  a  granddaughter  of  Thomas  Lawrence  the  Councillor,  who 
died  in  1778.  Both  Andrew  and  James  Allen  were  graduates 
of  the  Academy  in  the  class  of  1759. 


66          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

JOHN  INGLIS  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1708.  He  came  to 
Philadelphia  in  1736  from  the  Island  of  Nevis  where  he  had 
been  a  merchant.  He  here  pursued  the  same  career,  soon 
rising  into  prominence  as  a  successful  merchant,  and  was  in  part- 
nership with  Samuel  M'Call,  senior,  his  wife's  brother-in-law 
and  cousin.  He  was  elected  a  Common  Councilman  I  Octo- 
ber, 1745.  On  i  January,  1747-8  he  was  commissioned  Captain 
of  the  First  Company  of  the  Associated  Regiment  of  Foot,  of 
which  Samuel  M'Call  senior  was  a  Major;  and  in  the  Associa- 
tion Battery  Company  of  1756  he  was  a  private  with  his  wife's 
brother  Archibald  M'Call  and  brother-in-law  William  Plumsted. 
During  the  absence  of  Abraham  Taylor,  he  was  Deputy  Col- 
lector from  1751  to  1753.  He  was  in  the  Commission  of  1756, 
of  which  Alexander  Stedman  at  that  time  a  Trustee  of  the 
Academy  was  also  a  member,  to  audit  the  accounts  of  the  far- 
mers of  Pennsylvania  and  others,  who  had  claims  for  losses  of 
horses  and  wagons  under  the  contracts  which  Franklin  had 
made  in  1755  to  supply  Braddock's  needs.  He  signed  the  war 
Importation  Resolutions  of  1765.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers 
of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society  in  1749,  and  succeeded  Governor 
Morris  as  its  President.  He  died  20  August,  1775.  We  may 
recognize  a  familiar  pen  in  the  obituary  notice  of  him  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  23  August : 

On  Sunday  morning  last,  after  a  lingering  and  painful  indisposition, 
which  he  supported  with  great  equanimity,  died  John  Inglis,  Esq.,  of  this 
city  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age  ;  a  gentleman  who  early  acquired,  and 
maintained  to  the  last,  the  character  of  a  truly  honest  man.  Possessing  a 
liberal  and  independent  spirit,  despising  everything  which  he  thought 
unbecoming  a  gentleman,  attentive  to  business,  frugal  but  yet  elegant  in 
his  economy,  he  lived  superior  to  the  world,  beloved  and  respected  as  an 
useful  citizen,  an  agreeable  companion,  a  sincere  friend,  and  an  excellent 
father  of  a  family. 

He  married  16  October,  1736,  Catherine,  daughter  of 
George  M'Call,  a  native  of  Scotland  then  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Jasper  Yeates  and 
a  descendant  of  Joran  Kyn  the  founder  of  the  Swedish 
settlement  at  Upland.  Of  their  numerous  children,  John  was 
engaged  in  the  merchant  marine  service,  and  secured  a  commis- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          67 

sion  as  Captain  in  the  Royal  Navy  in  which  he  obtained 
the  rank  of  Rear  Admiral;  Samuel  was  elected  in  1777  a 
member  of  the  Philadelphia  Troop  of  Light  Horse  and  died  in 
1783  ;  and  Katharine  lived  with  her  cousin  Margaret  M'Call, 
daughter  of  Samuel  M'Call,  junior,  who  were  "United  through 
life.  United  in  the  grave"  as  we  are  told  on  their  joint  tomb- 
stone erected  "Sacred  to  Friendship,"  in  Christ  Church  Burying 
Ground.  Mrs.  Inglis'  brother  Samuel  M'Call,  junior,  was  a 
Trustee  of  the  Academy,  as  was  also  her  sister  Mary's  husband 
William  Plumsted. 

Mr.  Inglis'  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  was 
almost  continuous  ;  a  long  interval  occurred  from  May  1762  to 
September  1764,  which  is  not  explained,  but  on  his  return  his 
accustomed  regularity  was  resumed.  His  last  attendance  was 
on  22  February,  1774,  when  the  request  of  the  Provost  for  the 
erection  of  a  house  for  him  on  the  College  Grounds  was  unani- 
mously granted.  His  place  on  the  Board  was  filled  on  17  Octo- 
ber, 1776,  by  the  election  of  Hon.  James  Tilghman. 

TENCH  FRANCIS  was  born  in  Ireland,  the  son  of  the  Very 
Reverend  John  Francis,  Dean  of  Lismore  in  1722,  who  was  the 
grandson  of  Philip  Francis  who  was  Mayor  of  Plymouth  in  1622. 
Mr.  Francis  came  to  Maryland,  as  others  of  his  countrymen  had 
done  under  the  attractions  held  out  by  the  Calverts  ;  and  it  was 
while  acting  as  Attorney  for  Lord  Baltimore  that  he  married  in 
1 724  Elizabeth  Turbutt  of  Talbot  County,  Maryland.  He  had  two 
brothers,  Richard,  author  of  Maxims  of  Equity,  first  published 
in  1729,  with  an  American  edition  in  Richmond  in  1823;  and 
the  Rev.  Philip  Francis,  D.D.  who  was  father  of  Sir  Philip 
Francis  to  whom  the  authorship  of  The  Letters  of  Junius  was  for 
many  years  attributed.  He  appears  early  to  have  moved  to 
Pennsylvania  for  we  find  him  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  from 
1726  to  1734.  He  was  Attorney  General  of  Pennsylvania  from 
1741  to  1755,  and  Recorder  of  Philadelphia  from  1750  to  1755. 
His  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  was  very  uniform 
up  to  within  eighteen  months  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  16 
August,  1758;  his  last  attendance  was  on  9  May,  preceding. 


68          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  family  tomb  in  Christ  Church  Burying  Ground  was  erected 
by  his  son  Tench  and  bears  this  inscription  in  part :  "The  Vault 
over  which  this  Monument  is  erected  was  built  by  the  late 
Tench  Francis,  for  the  purpose  of  depositing  the  remains  of 
Tench  and  Elizabeth  Francis  his  Parents,  and  a  Sepulchre  for 
himself  and  his  descendants."  The  vacancy  in  the  Trustees 
made  by  his  death- was  filled  at  the  meeting  of  12  September  by 
the  election  of  Edward  Shippen,  jr. 

Of  Mr.  Francis'  children,  Anne  married  in  1743  James 
Tilghman  the  Councillor ;  Mary  married  William  Coxe  of 
New  Jersey,  and  her  daughter  married  Andrew  Allen  the 
Councillor ;  Tench  married  Anne  daughter  of  Charles  Will- 
ing, a  Trustee  of  the  Academy  ;  and  Elizabeth  married  John 
the  son  of  Thomas  Lawrence  also  a  Trustee. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  24  August,  1758,  records  the 
following  obituary  to  his  memory  : 

On  Wednesday,  the  i6th  Instant,  died  here  TENCH  FRANCIS,  Esq., 
Attorney  at  Law.  He  was  no  less  remarkable  for  strict  Fidelity  than  for 
his  profound  skill  in  his  profession.  He  filled  the  Stations  of  Attorney 
General  of  this  Province  and  Recorder  of  this  city,  for  a  Number  of  years, 
with  the  highest  Reputation  ;  and  when  declining  Health  had  called  him 
from  the  Bar,  he  continued  his  Usefulness  to  his  Country,  by  carrying  on 
a  large  and  honourable  Trade.  His  domestic  virtues  made  him  dear  to  his 
Family  ;  his  Learning  and  Abilities,  valuable  to  the  Community  ;  to  both 
his  Death  is  a  real  Loss. 

WILLIAM  MASTERS  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Masters,  who 
came  with  his  children  from  Bermuda  to  Pennsylvania  perhaps 
prior  to  the  year  1700,  and  who  built  at  Front  and  Market 
Streets  in  1704  what  was  said  to  be  the  first  three-story  house 
in  Philadelphia.  He  was  an  Alderman  of  the  city  in  1702,  and 
Mayor  from  1707  to  1709,  and  died  in  December,  1723. 
William  inherited  from  his  father  and  brother  Thomas  (who  died 
in  March  1740-1)  a  valuable  tract  of  land  in  the  Northern  Liberties, 
running  West  from  the  Delaware  River  to  beyond  Broad  Street 
and  lying  between  the  present  Girard  and  Montgomery  Avenues. 
He  was  a  representative  from  Philadelphia  County  in  the 
assembly  for  many  years,  and  a  commissioner  to  disburse  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          69 

money  appropriated  for  the  defence  of  the  Province.  His  sister 
Mercy  married  Peter  Lloyd,  the  first  cousin  of  Dr.  Lloyd  Zachary, 
a  fellow  Trustee.  The  story  of  William's  early  courtship,  and 
reputed  engagement  to,  William  Penn's  daughter  Letitia,  who  was 
his  senior  in  years,  and  who  after  reaching  England  at  the  close  of 
1701  forgot  him  and  soon  afterwards  married  William  Aubrey, 
which  was  referred  to  with  feeling  by  James  Logan  in  his  letter  to 
Penn  written  in  May  1702,  forms  one  of  the  earliest  romances  in 
high  life  in  the  Province.14  However  that  may  be,  he  remained 
single  during  her  life  ;  she  died  in  1746,  and  we  find  him,  an  elderly 
man,  marrying  in  1754  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lawrence 
the  Councillor,  who  must  have  been  his  cotemporary  in  years. 
He  died  24  November,  1760;  of  his  two  daughters  who  grew 
to  adult  years,  Mary  married,  in  1772,  Richard  Penn  the  Coun- 
cillor, the  grandson  of  William  Penn,  and  died  in  London  in 
1829;  and  Sarah  married,  in  1795,  Turner  Camac  of  Green- 
mount  Lodge,  County  Louth,  Ireland. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  27  November,  1760,  thus 
noticed  his  death  : 

Yesterday  were  interred  the  Remains  of  WILLIAM  MASTERS,  Esq. , 
who  was  one  of  the  Representatives  of  this  City  in  Assembly,  and  a 
Provincial  Commissioner,  for  several  years.  He  was  not  more  remarkable 
for  his  Superior  Fortune,  than  for  his  firm  Adherance  to  the  Constitution  of 
his  Country,  and  the  common  Rights  of  Mankind. 

His  will  which  was  probated  30  January,  1761,  appointed 
Benjamin  Franklin,  Joseph  Fox  and  Joseph  Galloway  executors 
of  his  Estate  and  guardians  of  his  three  minor  daughters;  but  as 
Franklin  was  absent  in  England,  he  did  not  qualify. 

Mrs.  Masters,  in  the  year  following  that  of  the  death  of  her 
husband,  took  conveyance  from  her  father  of  a  large  lot  on  the 
South  side  of  Market  Street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth  Streets, 
upon  which  she  decided  to  build  a  handsome  mansion.  Here 
her  daughter  Mary  lived  with  her,  and  on  the  occasion  of 
her  marriage  to  Richard  Penn,  who  had  come  from  England  in 
1771  commissioned  as  Lieutenant  Governor,  the  mother  con- 
veyed the  property  to  her.  During  the  possession  of  the  city 

14  The  element  of  doubt  that  appears  in  this  colonial  romance,  is  stated  by 
Mr.  Jenkins  in  his  The  Family  of  William  Penn,  pp.  62-63. 


70          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

by  the  British,  General  Howe  occupied  the  Mansion,  the 
stateliest  in  the  city.  When  the  city  came  again  under  home 
rule,  and  Arnold  was  in  command,  the  latter  here  lived  sumptu- 
ously until  his  final  departure.  The  house  was  then  occupied 
by  the  French  Consul  General  Holker,  and  during  his  occupancy 
it  was  burnt  down  in  1 780.  The  lot  with  the  ruins  Robert  Morris 
leased,  rebuilt  the  house  in  its  former  style  and  purchased 

t  in  1785,  and  here  remained  until  he  vacated  it  for  the  use  of 
our  first  President,  and  it  then  became  the  residence  of  Washing- 
ton during  his  two  terms  of  office,  and  hence  bears  in  local 
history  the  name  of  the  Washington  Mansion.  The  building 
afterwards  erected  by  the  State  on  Ninth  Street  for  the  use  of 
his  successors  in  office  was  never  so  occupied,  and  was  sold  to 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1801. 

Mr.  Masters  attendance  at  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was 
sufficiently  regular  to  evince  his  interests  in  their  concerns,  but 
for  three  years  prior  to  his  death  his  name  does  not  appear  as 
present,  the  last  meeting  at  which  he  appears  being  II  January, 

1757.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  trust  by  the  Rev.  Jacob  Duche, 
who  was  elected  10  February,  1761. 

DR.  LLOYD  ZACHARY,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1701,  the 
son  of  Daniel  Zachary  a  native  of  England  who  had  emigrated 
to  Boston,  and  who  married  9  April,  1700,  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Lloyd,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Province.  De- 
borah Logan  says  of  him  :  "This  worthy  man,  who  had  settled 
in  Boston,  but  had  married  a  Pennsylvanian,  a  daughter  of  Thomas 
Lloyd,  upon  the  decease  of  his  wife,  went  home  to  England, 
where  shortly  after  his  arrival  he  also  died.  He  left  one  son, 
Lloyd  Zachary,  who  became  afterwards  a  distinguished  physi- 
cian in  Philadelphia."  I5  Young  Zachary  studied  medicine  under 
Dr.  Kearsley,  and  afterwards  abroad,  and  returning  to  Phila- 
delphia began  the  practice  of  his  profession  with  zeal  and 
skill,  becoming  one  of  the  first  physicians  in  the  city.  In 
1741,  when  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme  was  superseded  as  Quarantine 
physician  wherein  he  had  served  twenty  years,  Dr.  Zachary 

15  Penn  &*  Logan  Correspondence,  i.  348. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          71 

was  elected  in  his  stead.  When  the  new  Hospital  was 
opened  in  February,  1752  in  John  Kinsey's  house  on  Market 
street,  on  the  site  of  which  Widow  Masters  built  her  mansion 
in  1761,  Dr.  Zachary  with  the  two  Doctors  Bond,  and 
Graeme,  Moore,  Cadwalader  and  Redman  were  its  first  active 
physicians,  bestowing  their  medicines  free  to  its  patients.  The 
hospital  received  from  his  Aunt  and  Uncle  Hannah  and  Richard 
Hill  a  valuable  tract  on  the  Ridge  Road.  He  died  unmarried 
25  November,  1756.  His  attendance  at  the  Trustees  meetings 
was  more  constant  the  first  two  years  than  later.  He  did  not 
qualify  under  the  Charter  of  1755;  as  his  place  was  filled  11 
January,  1757,  by  the  election  of  Benjamin  Chew. 

Franklin  wrote  the  following  expressive  memorial  notice  of 
him  for  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  16  December,  1756: 

On  the  26th  past  died  here  Doctor  LLOYD  ZACHARY,  who  in 
Sweetness  of  Temper,  Politeness  of  Manners,  and  universal  Benevo- 
lence, had  few  Equals,  no  Superiors.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  the 
Academy,  and  Charity  School,  and  one  of  the  first  Subscribers,  hav- 
ing given  one  Hundred  Pound  towards  their  Establishment.  He  was 
also  an  early  Contributor  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  one  of 
the  first  Physicians  who  agreed  to  attend  it  gratis  ;  which  he  continued  to 
do  as  long  as  his  Health  would  permit.  In  his  last  Will  he  bequeathed 
TTiree  Hundred  and  Fifty  Pounds  to  that  charitable  Institution  as  a  Means 
of  continuing  to  do  good  after  his  Decease.  An  uncommonly  great  Num- 
ber of  the  Inhabitants  testify' d  their  Respect  for  him,  by  attending  his 
Funeral. 

SAMUEL  M'CALL,  junior,  as  he  was  known  by  way  of  dis- 
tinction from  his  cousin  Samuel  M'Call,  senior,  who  married  his 
sister  Anne,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  5  October,  1721,  the  son 
of  George  M'Call,  before  mentioned  as  the  father  of  the  wife  of 
John  Inglis.  He  early  engaged  in  mercantile  life,  inheriting 
his  father's  store  and  wharf,  and  taking  his  younger  brother 
Archibald  into  partnership.  He  was  a  Common  Councilman, 
being  chosen  6  October,  1747,  and  with  his  brother-in- 
law  John  Inglis  was  on  the  Commission  to  audit  the  accounts  of 
Pennsylvania  claimants  for  losses  sustained  in  their  supplies  to 
Braddock's  expedition.  He  became  a  member  of  the  St. 


72          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Andrew's  Society  in  1751.  With  his  brothers  George  and 
Archibald,  and  brothers-in-law  Inglis  and  Plumsted,  he  joined  in 
the  petition  to  the  Proprietaries  i  August,  1754  asking  the  grant 
of  the  lot  at  Third  and  Pine  Streets  for  a  church  and  yard  for 
the  use  of  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  whereon  St. 
Peter's  Church  was  afterwards  erected.  Mr.  M'Call  died  in 
September,  1762.  He  had  married  in  1743  Anne,  a  daughter  of 
Capt.  John  Searle.  His  eldest  daughter  Anne  married  Thomas 
Willing,  himself  also  a  Trustee  in  1760,  and  eldest  son  of  Charles 
Willing,  one  of  the  original  Trustees  of  the  Academy ;  and 
Catherine  married  Tench  Coxe  the  grandson  of  Tench  Francis 
the  Trustee.  His  brother  Archibald's  grandson,  Peter  M'Call, 
Esq.,  became  a  Trustee  of  the  University  in  i86i.16 

Mr.  M'Call's  attendance  at  the  Trustees'  meetings  was  less 
regular  in  the  years  1752,  '53,  and  '54,  than  prior  or  subsequent, 
the  last  at  which  his  name  appears  was  on  I  May,  1760  when 
the  Trustees  attended  the  Commencement  services  of  that  day. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  John  Redman  who  was  elected  14 
December,  1762. 

JOSEPH  TURNER,  a  native  of  Andover,  Hampshire,  England, 
was  born  2  May,  1701,  and  came  to  America  in  January  1714. 
He  appears  to  have  engaged  in  shipping,  and  we  find  him  in 
1724  as  the  Captain  of  the  ship  Lovely.  In  1726  he  was  one  of 
those  who  signed  to  take  the  bills  of  credit  of  the  Lower  Counties 
at  their  face  value.  In  1729  he  was  elected  a  Common  Council- 
man, and  in  1741  an  Alderman.  He  declined  election  to  the  May- 
oralty in  1745,  and  submitted  to  the  appropriate  penalty  of  ,£30. 
For  nearly  a  half  century  he  was  in  partnership  in  commercial 
business  with  William  Allen,  the  house  of  Allen  &  Turner  for  a 
long  time  before  the  Revolutionary  War  being  the  most  promi- 
nent in  the  Colony;  and  they  also  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
iron,  owning  several  mines  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council,  qualifying  on  14  May, 
1747.  He  died  25  July,  1783,  unmarried,  leaving  the  bulk  of 


16  Pennsylvania    Magazine,   v.    471,    in  Mr.  Keen's  Descendants  of     Joran 
Kyn,  for  reference  to  Mr.  McCall's  ancestry  and  kin. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          73 

his  extensive  property  to  the  children  of  his  sister  Mary,  who 
married  Captain  James  Oswald,  namely,  Elizabeth  who  married 
Chief  Justice  Chew  as  his  second  wife,  and  Margaret  who  mar- 
ried Frederick  Smythe,  Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey.  Another 
sister  of  Joseph  Turner  married  John  Sims  a  merchant  in  Jamaica, 
and  was  the  mother  of  Joseph  and  Buckridge  Sims,  eminent 
merchants  of  Philadelphia.  There  was  a  brother  Peter,  whose 
possessions  in  the  Northern  Liberties  gave  rise  to  the  name  of 
Turner's  Lane  when  that  road  was  opened,  but  it  is  now  no  more, 
the  rectangular  streets  of  modern  municipal  geography  obliter- 
ating all  traces  of  it. 

Mr.  Turner's  presence  in  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  was 
very  constant  up  to  1762,  when  for  some  years  long  intervals 
occurred  between  his  attendances,  and  the  last  time  his  name  is 
entered  as  being  present  was  on  23  July,  1769,  the  condition  of 
his  health  forbidding  him  to  continue  his  attendance.  This  con- 
tinued for  another  ten  years  when  on  22  June,  1779,  he  wrote  to 
the  Trustees,  "My  advanced  age  and  bodily  infirmities  not  per- 
mitting my  attendance  as  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College, 
Academy  and  charitable  Schools  of  Philada.,  I  think  it  my  duty 
to  resign  a  trust  which  I  am  no  longer  able  to  execute."  This 
was  accepted  at  a  meeting  on  that  day,  and  at  the  meeting  on 
28  June,  Mr.  George  Clymer,  the  Signer,  was  elected  in  his  place, 
but  the  abrogation  of  the  charter  before  the  end  of  that  year 
gave  him  a  very  brief  Trust. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  "  who  first  projected  the  liberal  plan 
of  the  institution  over  which  we  have  the  honor  to  preside,"  as 
the  Provost,  Vice  Provost  and  Professors  addressed  him  16  Sep- 
tember, 1785  on  his  final  return  home  from  his  manifold  foreign 
duties,  finds  a  place  at  this  point  in  the  list  of  the  original  Trus- 
tees. While  a  sketch  is  here  attempted  of  the  lives  and  actions, 
personal  or  professional  or  political,  of  his  associates,  but  a  brief 
one  should  be  attempted  in  this  place  of  the  man  whose  Auto- 
biography has  to  this  day  remained  unapproached  in  style  or 
instruction  by  any  who  have  attempted  his  Biography.  Nor  is 
it  needed  to  record  in  these  pages  in  any  detail  the  doings  and 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

works  of  a  man  who  has  but  one  peer  in  his  country's  annals,  so 
familiar  are  they  to  all  who  have  any  knowledge  of  its  history. 
In  previous  pages  some  attempt  has  been  made  to  mark  the 
various  important  steps  in  his  walk  of  life,  each  one  seeming  to 
establish  him  more  firmly  in  general  and  useful  knowledge  as 
well  also  in  local  reputation  and  influence.  A  study  of  this  won- 
derful progress  of  one  from  an  alien  in  Philadelphia  in  1723, 
in  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  a  commanding  position  in  the  com- 
munity, leaves  no  room  to  wonder  how  easy  it  was  for  him  to 
draw  around  him  for  the  furtherance  of  education  in  a  new  and 
liberal  form  men  of  the  characters  and  influence  whose  lives 
are  in  a  measure  here  portrayed,  men  who  did  not  merely  grant 
him  the  use  of  their  names  by  which  to  manufacture  a  standing 
for  the  institution,  but  who  gave  their  time  to  the  meetings  and 
committee  work  in  a  degree  unusual  to  men  who  all  were 
actively  engaged  in  their  own  affairs,  yet  who  made  time  to 
share  with  him  in  all  its  deliberations,  and  whose  spirit  of  direct- 
ness and  thoroughness  so  infused  itself  into  their  minds  as  to 
enable  the  institution  to  proceed  with  the  same  force  during 
his  various  absences,  unhappily  continued  however  at  a  time 
when  his  calmness  and  skill  might  have  averted  the  charter 
abrogation  of  1779. 

We  shall  follow  him  in  the  coming  years  of  his  life,  and 
give  some  heed  to  his  political  and  diplomatic  course  as  we  pro- 
ceed in  the  narrative  of  the  institution,  which  Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold  has  happily  named  the  University  of  Franklin.17  For 
although  new  influences  came  with  its  counsels  and  strove  for 
its  mastery  in  but  a  few  short  years,  to  the  extent  of  belittling 
his  influence  and  clouding  his  title  to  its  parentage,  we  must 
note  his  patience  throughout  all,  and  realise  his  continued 
interest  in  the  institution,  even  to  the  last ;  and  must  perforce 
step  abreast  of  his  own  busy  years  at  home  or  abroad,  and  keep 
alive  that  connection  with  our  Commonwealth's  and  indeed  our 
Nation's  history  his  own  close  participation  in  both  of  which  makes 

17  In  his  paper  on  "Foreign  Education  "  which  he  read  to  a  distinguished 
audience  in  the  University  Chapel,  8  June,  1886.  Mr.  Sidney  George  Fisher  makes 
the  like  nomination  in  his  True  Benjamin  Franklin,  p  77,  "  it  should  have  been 
called,  Franklin  University." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         75 

it  all  the  more  necessary  for  those  to  study  who  claim  it  as 
their  Alma  Mater. 

He  had  entitled  himself  among  his  fellow  trustees  bearing 
honored  titles  of  rank  or  profession  or  of  courtesy,  simply  as 
PRINTER  ;  this  he  claimed  as  his  proper  designation  and  of  equal 
honor  to  his  last  days,  his  will  reciting  "  I  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Printer,"  in  precedence  of  his  further  titles,  "  late  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary from  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  Court  of 
France,  now  President  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,"  when  he 
wrote  it  on  17  July,  1788.  Having  a  competency  by  his  success 
in  business,  he  had  retired  from  the  active  work  of  his  calling  in 
September  1748,  disposing  of  his  printing  establishment  to 
David  Hall,  his  foreman,  on  favorable  terms  to  both,  which  were 
to  be  met  by  Hall  within  the  term  of  eighteen  years  during 
which  it  was  to  be  carried  on  in  the  names  of  Franklin 
and  Hall,  the  former  assisting  in  the  editing  of  the  Gazette 
and  his  Poor  Richard's  Almanac.  But  through  all  his  changes 
and  diversities  of  labors,  he  clung  with  tenacity  and  in  honor  to 
his  cognomen  of  PRINTER. 

The  leisure  he  gained  by  this  made  no  contribution  to  any 
personal  idleness ;  he  simply  turned  his  activities  into  more 
congenial  channels  of  science  or  education  or  philanthropy,  or 
indeed  politics.  His  electrical  pursuits,  begun  in  1747,  continued 
unremittingly  over  a  series  of  years  ; I8  his  Academy  and  Charit- 
able School  of  1749  opened  up  still  further  opportunities  for 


18  These  earlier  experiments  of  Franklin  were  carried  on  in  the  house  built 
by  John  Wister,  No.  141  (now  325)  Market  street  in  1731.  "  It  was  in  this  house 
that  Dr.  Franklin  made  his  first  attempt  to  'snatch  the  lightning  from  Heaven' 
and  guide  it  harmlessly  to  the  earth.  With  this  object  he  here  erected  his  first 
lightning  rod,  an  hexagonal  iron  rod,  still  in  our  possession,  connecting  it  with  a 
bell  which  gave  the  alarm  whenever  the  atmosphere  was  surcharged  with  electric 
fluid.  The  ringing  of  this  bell  so  annoyed  my  grandmother  that  it  was  removed  at 
her  request."  Memoir  of  Charles  J.  Wister ,  by  his  son,  1 866,  vol  i.  pp.  21,  33. 
John  Wister' s  son,  Daniel,  who  was  born  4  February,  1738-39,  was  a  pupil  at 
the  Academy  1752-1754,  as  was  also  his  cousin  Caspar  in  1752.  Watson  tells  us 
that  in  1750  Franklin  owned  and  was  dwelling  in  the  house  at  the  South  East 
corner  of  Race  and  Second  Streets.  Annals  i.  532-33. 

The  earliest  residence  of  Franklin's  family  known  to  us  was  in  the  building 
owned  by  Benjamin  Hornoron  Market  Street  above  Front,  now  No.  131,  where  some 
of  Mr.  Hornor's  living  descendants  recollect  being  shown  in  their  early  years  traces 
then  remaining  of  Franklin's  printing  work.  See  Family  Memorials  by  Miss  Mary 
Coates,  Philadelphia  1885,  p.  60.  It  was  here  that  Franklin  writes  to  Thomas  Hop- 
kinson,  in  1747 :  "  The  din  of  the  Market  increases  upon  me,  and  that,  with  frequent 


76         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

his  time  and  thought;  and  the  new  Hospital  in  1752,  in  which  his 
fellow  trustees  in  the  Academy,  the  two  Bonds,  Zachary,  and 
Shippen  were  the  great  promoters,  found  him  a  willing  and  ready 
coadjutor,  as  we  in  the  same  year  find  him  lending  his  counten- 
ance and  aid  to  the  honored  Friend,  John  Smith,  who  founded 
the  first  Insurance  Company  formed  in  the  Colonies,  the  Phila- 
delphia Contributionship.  He  tells  us  :19 

When  I  disengaged  myself  from  private  business,  I  flatter' d  myself 
that  by  the  sufficient  tho'  moderate  fortune  I  had  acquir'd,  I  had  secured 
leisure  during  the  rest  of  my  life  for  philosophical  studies  and  amusements. 
I  purchased  all  Dr.  Spencer's  apparatus,  who  had  come  from  England  to 
lecture  here,  and  I  proceeded  in  my  electrical  experiments  with  great 
alacrity;  but  the  publick  now  considering  me  as  a  man  of  leisure,  laid 
hold  of  me  for  their  purposes  ;  every  part  of  our  civil  government,  and 
almost  at  the  same  time,  imposing  some  duty  upon  me.  The  governor 
put  me  into  the  commission  of  peace,  [in  1749  and  again  in  1752]  the 
corporation  of  the  city  chose  me  one  of  the  common  council  [4  October, 
1748]  ;  and  soon  after  Alderman  [i  October,  1751]  ;  and  the  citizens  at  large 
chose  me  a  burgess  to  represent  them  in  Assembly  [1750].  *  *  *  My 
election  to  this  trust  was  repeated  every  year  for  ten  years  without  my  ever 
asking  any  elector  for  his  vote,  or  signifying,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
any  desire  of  being  chosen.  On  taking  my  seat  in  the  House,  my  son  was 
appointed  their  clerk.  *  *  *  *  I  would  not,  however,  insinuate,  that 
my  ambition  was  not  flattered  by  all  these  promotions  ;  it  certainly  was  ; 
for,  considering  my  low  beginning,  they  were  great  things  to  me  and  they 
were  still  more  pleasing  as  being  so  many  spontaneous  testimonies  of  the 
public  good  opinion,  and  by  me  entirely  unsolicited. 

His  first  hearing  on  the  Bench  in  the  case  of  William  vs. 
Till,  (noted  later)  he  was  associated  with  Thomas  Lawrence, 
Edward  Shippen  and  Joshua  Maddox,  two  of  whom  were  to 
become  his  co-trustees  in  the  Academy  before  this  year  was  out. 

The  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  I  tried  a  little,  by  attending  a  few 
courts,  and  sitting  on  the  bench  to  hear  causes  ;  but  rinding  that  more 

interruptions,  has,  I  find,  made  me  say  some  things  twice  over,  and  I  suppose,  forget 
some  others."  Bigelow,  ii.  103. 

In  1 764  he  built  on  his  lot  on  the  South  side  of  Market  Street  between  Third  and 
Fourth  Streets,  the  house  standing  southwards  from  the  line  of  the  street  nigh  where 
Hudson  Place  now  bisects  the  block;  this  is  the  "  new  house"  Mrs.  Franklin  speaks 
of  in  the  letter  to  her  husband  7  April,  1765,  Bigelow,  iii.  374,  and  where  he  resided 
the  remainder  of  his  years.  For  a  description  of  these  premises  and  the  Mansion 
and  printing  offices  see  Scharf  &  Wescott's  History  of  Philadelphia,  I.  460,  for 
&  letter  from  Robert  Carr  to  John  A.  McAllister  written  25  May,  1864. 

19  Bigelow.  i.  227. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         77 

knowledge  of  the  Common  Law  than  I  possessed  was  necessary  to  act  in  that 
station  with  credit,  I  gradually  withdrew  from  it;  excusing  myself  by  being 
obliged  to  attend  the  higher  duties  of  a  legislator  in  the  Assembly.20 

He  was  on  3  September,  1776,  appointed  Presiding  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  in  October,  1785,  while 
President  Supreme  Executive  Council  was  appointed  President 
Judge  ;  but  there  is  no  certainty  of  his  ever  sitting.  Gordon 
says  of  him,  in  connection  with  his  Assembly  duties : 

His  active,  comprehensive,  and  discriminating  mind  qualified  him 
at  all  times  to  lead  in  a  popular  body;  but  his  knowledge  of  provincial 
affairs  at  once  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  assembly,  and  caused  him  to 
be  appointed  upon  every  important  committee." 

His  rank  as  a  Philosopher  was  earned  by  his  success  and 
discoveries  in  Electricity  which  had  begun  about  this  period  in 
his  life.  Mr.  Peter  Collinson,  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society, 
who  had  been  commissioned  to  send  books  to  the  Philadelphia 
Library,  sent  out  early  in  1747  an  "  electric  tube  with  directions 
for  using  it,"  which  Franklin  in  acknowledging  it  said  "has  put 
several  of  us  on  making  electrical  experiments,  in  which  we 
have  observed  some  particular  phenomena,  that  we  look  upon  to 
be  new."  His  friends  referred  to  were  Hopkinson,  Syng  and 
Kinnersley,  the  latter  of  whom  in  1753  became  the  Head  Master 
of  the  English  School  connected  with  the  Academy,  and  in 
1755  was  chosen  Professor  of  Oratory  and  English  Literature  in 
the  College.  In  writing  to  Mr.  Collinson  29  July,  1750  he  says  : 

as  you  first  put  us  on  electrical  experiments,  by  sending  to  our  Library 
Company  a  tube,  with  directions  how  to  use  it ;  and  as  an  honorable 
Proprietary  enabled  us  to  carry  those  experiments  to  a  greater  height,  by  his 
generous  present  of  a  complete  electrical  apparatus  ;  it  is  fit  that  both 
should  know,  from  time  to  time,  what  progress  we  make. 

These  experiments  unfolded  new  ideas,  and  new  forces  were 
discovered  in  the  Electrical  Fire,  and  Franklin's  correspondence 
abroad  detailing  them  to  Collinson  and  others,  though  not  at 
first  heeded  in  regular  Scientific  circles  in  England,  found  a 

20  "In  the  days  of  the  Province  nearly  all  the  Justices,  both  of  the  Common 
Pleas  and  the  Supreme  Court,  Franklin  excepted,  were  merchants."     David  Paul 
Brown,  Forum,  i.  256. 

21  History  of  Penti1  a.     Thomas  F.  Gordon,  268. 


78         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

warm  welcome  in  France  and  on  the  Continent.  To  enter  here 
upon  them  with  any  description  would  open  a  most  entertaining 
chapter  in  Franklin's  life,  but  indulgence  can  only  be  given  to  a 
summary  of  their  results  as  placing  Franklin's  name  at  the  head 
of  the  practical  discoverers  of  the  sources  and  powers  of  this 
wonderful  natural  force,  which  we  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
later  are  just  beginning  to  chain  to  our  will  and  utilize  in  all 
our  practical  arts.22 

Dr.  Priestly  says  of  Franklin's  records  of  his  discoveries  : 

it  is  not  easy  to  say,  whether  we  are  most  pleased  with  the  simplicity  and 
perspicuity  with  which  these  letters  are  written,  the  modesty  with  which 
the  author  proposes  every  hypothesis  of  his  own,  or  the  noble  frankness 
with  which  he  relates  his  mistakes,  when  they  were  corrected  by  subse- 
quent experiments.  *  *  *  Dr.  Franklin's  principles  bid  fair  to  be  handed 
down  to  posterity  as  equally  expressive  of  the  true  principles  of  electricity, 
as  the  Newtonian  philosophy  is  of  the  true  system  of  nature  in  general. 

Before  Priestley  wrote  this,  Kinnersley  had  written  to 
Franklin  12  March,  1761  : 

I  most  heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  pleasure  you  must  have  in 
finding  your  great  and  well  grounded  expectations  so  far  fulfilled.  May 
this  method  of  security  [referring  to  the  lightning  rod]  from  the  destruc- 
tive violence  of  one  of  the  most  awful  powers  of  nature  meet  with  such 
further  success,  as  to  induce  every  good  and  grateful  heart  to  bless  God  for 
the  important  discovery.  *  *  *  May  it  extend  to  the  latest  posterity 
of  mankind,  and  make  the  name  of  FRANKLIN  like  that  of  NEWTON 
immortal. 

To  which  Franklin  refers  in  his  letter  from  London  20 
February,  1762,  in  conclusion  "  Your  kind  wishes  and  congratu- 
lations are  very  obliging."23 

This  reference  to  the  lightning  rod  is  to  Franklin's  happy 
experiment  with  his  kite  in  June  1752,  in  the  open  fields  not  far 
from  his  residence,  by  which  he  drew  lightning  from  the  clouds, 
establishing  his  theory  that  under  some  circumstances  of  pecu- 
liar attraction  the  electric  fluid  could  be  drawn  to  earth.24  His 
theories  had  been  known  abroad,  and  the  "  Philadelphia  experi- 


22  Bigelow,  ii.  59.  MIbid,  iii.  178. 

24  See  his  Communication  of  19  October,  1752,  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
for  December,  1752,  p.  560. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         79 

ment"  had  been  successful  in  France  in  May  of  that  year, 
M.  Dalibard  drawing  electricity  from  a  thunder  cloud  by  a 
pointed  rod.  When  the  tidings  of  this  reached  America,  Frank- 
lin had  not  publicly  announced  his  success  with  the  silken  kite, 
and  it  was  not  until  19  October  following  in  a  letter  to  Peter 
Collinson  he  wrote, 

as  frequent  mention  is  made  in  public  papers  from  Europe,  of  the 
success  of  the  Philadelphia  experiment  for  drawing  the  electric  fire  from 
clouds  by  means  of  pointed  rods  of  iron  erected  on  high  buildings,  &c. ,  it 
may  be  agreeable  to  the  curious  to  be  informed,  that  the  same  experiment 
has  succeeded  in  Philadelphia,  though  made  in  a  different  and  more  easy 
manner  ; 

and  he  then  proceeds  to  a  description  of  his  June  experiment, 
though  in  an  entirely  impersonal  manner.25  This  letter  was  read 
at  the  Royal  Society  on  3  I  December  following,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing November  he  was  granted  by  the  Society  the  Copley 
Medal  for  that  year  "  on  account  of  his  curious  experiments 
and  observations  on  electricity,  as  a  mark  of  distinction  due  to 
his  unquestionable  merit;"  and  on  29  April,  1756,  he  was 
elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society. 

The  Rev.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  alike  interested  in  these 
studies,  gave  public  exhibitions  of  many  of  these  experiments, 
and  quite  reasonably  at  the  time  was  granted  to  him  by  the 
public  the  meed  of  praise  as  their  discoverer;  but  Franklin's 
correspondence,  now  all  brought  to  light,  shows  their  letters,  and 
the  relative  claims  of  the  two  to  distinction  in  the  premises  can 
be  properly  measured.  Franklin  took  the  scientific  into  his 
confidence  rather  than  the  curious  public.  But  traces  of  Frank- 
lin's observations  can  be  found  from  time  to  time  in  the  news 
columns  (so-called)  of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  where  frequent 
record  is  made  of  instances  of  the  destructive  power  of  light- 
ning which  had  been  reported  to  him,  doubtless  in  answer  to 
his  request,  published  in  the  Gazette  of  21  June,  1753,  namely  : 

Those  of  our   Readers  in  this  and  the  neighboring   Provinces,  who 


25  Bigelow,  ii.  262.  On  Franklin's  Lightning  Rod  -vide  Dr.  Andrew  D.  White's 
History  of  the  Warfare  of  Science  and  Theology,  i.  365,  for  an  interesting  statement 
of  the  early  opposition  it  engendered,  and  of  its  practical  usefulness  winning  its  way 
among  its  theological  opponents. 


8o         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

may  have  an  opportunity  of  observing,  during  the  present  Summer,  any  of 
the  Effects  of  Lightning  on  Houses,  Ships,  Trees,  &c.,  are  requested  to 
take  particular  Notice  of  its  Course,  and  Deviation  from  a  Straight  Line,  in 
the  Walls  or  other  Matter  affected  by  its  different  Operations,  or  Effects  on 
Wood,  Stone,  Bricks,  Glass,  Metals,  Animal  Bodies,  &c. ,  and  every  other 
Circumstance  that  may  tend  to  discover  the  Nature  and  compleat  the  His- 
tory of  that  terrible  Meteor.  Such  observations  being  put  in  writing  and 
communicated  to  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Philadelphia,  will  be  very  thank- 
fully acknowledged. 

In  April,  1751,  Mr.  Kinnersley  gives26  "Notice  to  the  Curi- 
ous "  of  a  "  course  of  Experiments  in  the  newly  discovered 
Electric  Fire,"  adding  at  foot  "  the  experiments  succeed  best 
when  the  air  is  dry;"  and  "  to  be  accompanied  with  Methodical 
Lectures  on  the  Nature  and  Properties  of  that  wonderful  ele- 
ment." Three  years  later,  he  gave  for  the  "  Entertainment 
of  the  Curious  "  "  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  Academy,  a 
course  of  experiments  in  that  new  Branch  of  Natural  Philosophy 
called  Electricity."  And  as  the  "  modern  Prometheus,"  as 
Kant  had  now  called  him,  had  drawn  the  fire  down  from  Heaven, 
Kinnersley  adds  an  expostulatory  paragraph  in  his  Advertise- 
ment, "  and  as  some  are  apt  to  doubt  the  Lawfulness  of  endeav- 
oring to  guard  against  Lightning,  it  will  be  farther  shewn,  that  the 
doing  it,  in  the  Manner  proposed,  cannot  possibly  be  chargeable 
with  Presumption,  nor  be  inconsistent  with  any  of  the  Principles 
either  of  Natural  or  Revealed  Religion.27  This  good  Baptist 
Minister  did  not  recognise  any  divorce  between  Religion  and 
Science. 

When  Franklin  was  sent  out  in  1757  on  a  political  errand 
to  represent  his  adopted  colony  at  the  home  government,  his 
reception  in  England  was  that  due  to  a  savant  rather  than  a 
politician.  Local  politics  in  their  intensity  found  but  little  room 
for  the  recognition  of  those  high  scientific  attainments  which 
gave  a  warmth  to  the  welcome,  which  otherwise  would  have  been 
a  cold  one,  to  a  protesting  colonist. 

Franklin's  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
Academy  and  College  was  constant  and  regular,  his  first  absence 


^Pennsylvania  Gazette,  II  April,  1751.  27  Ibid,  26  March,  1754. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         Si 

being  at  the  meeting  of  August  I75I,28  and  there  was  but  one 
absence  to  note  in  1752,  "  when  the  Trustees  visited  the  Schools, 
but  did  no  other  business,"  the  year  of  his  most  interesting  elec- 
trical experiments  ;  the  year  1753  shows  absence  from  only  three 
regular  meetings  in  the  summer  of  his  first  duty  as  Postmaster 
General  which  engaged  him  in  his  travels  to  the  Eastward, 
besides  his  two  Indian  Missions  ;  in  1754  his  absences  were 
more  notable,  due  largely  to  his  visit  to  Albany  with  the  Com- 
missioners ;  in  1755  being  early  in  the  year  absent  on  a  visit  to 
New  England,  and  later  engaged  in  aiding  Braddock29  his  name 
does  not  appear  in  two  of  the  regular  meetings;  in  1756  his 
absence  was  more  notable  owing  to  his  frequent  journeys  from 
home.  Visiting  Virginia  on  his  post  office  duties  in  the  Spring  he 
received  from  William  and  Mary  College  in  person  on  2  April 
the  degree  of  A.M.,  "  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Rev  G.  Daw- 
son,  A.M.,  President,  to  whom  he  was  in  public  presented  by  the 
Rev.  Wm  Preston  A.M."30  On  his  return  from  there  early  in 
June  we  find  him  at  the  close  of  the  month  in  New  York,  and  in 
November  at  Easton  attending  an  Indian  Conference.  In  April 
1757,  he  sailed  on  his  first  foreign  mission  to  the  mother  coun- 
try. Arriving  home  in  November,  1762,  he  resumes  his  attend- 
ance at  the  meetings,  but  in  1763  he  was  frequently  absent,  his 
public  duties  withdrawing  him  from  other  concerns  ;  and  in 
November,  1764,  he  set  sail  for  London  on  his  second  mission. 
He  was  elected  the  first  president  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  being 
succeeded  by  Richard  Peters  who  was  elected  11  May,  1756. 
The  minutes  give  us  no  indication  of  the  cause  of  his  declining 
a  re-election  at  this  time  :  his  journey  to  Albany  in  the  previous 
year,  his  absences  now  from  the  first  five  meetings  of  the  cur- 
rent year,  may  be  indications  of  his  accumulating  public  duties, 
but  there  were  thus  early  developing  some  of  those  causes 


28  His  absence  from  a  meeting  of  the  Common  Council  that  day,  also,  would 
show  that  absence  from  the  city  was  the  cause. 

'•^Bigelow,  ii.  414.  Sparks,  vii.  85.  '•  Since  my  return,  I  have  been  in  such 
a  perpetual  hurry  of  public  affairs  of  various  kinds,"  he  writes  II  Sept.  1755.  Paxton, 
i.  342. 

80  Faculty  Proceedings,  Historical  Sketch  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary, 
p.  42.  He  writes  to  his  wife  from  Williamsburg,  30  March,  1756:  "  Virginia  is  a 
pleasant  country  ;  now  in  full  spring ;  the  people  obliging  and  polite."  Bigelow,  ii.  458. 


82         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

which  were  working  to  take  the  institution  not  only  further  out 
of  the  practical  lines  he  had  in  the  outset  marked  for  its 
course,  but  also  to  make  it  more  agreeable  to  the  political  party  to 
which  he  was  opposed.  Ke  attended  the  regular  meeting  sub- 
sequent to  Dr.  Peters  election  ;  but  infrequently  afterwards,  and 
in  the  April  following  as  stated  before,  he  sailed  for  England. 
The  heat  of  local  politics  may  have  fused  some  antagonisms 
which  served  to  counteract  his  influence  in  the  Board,  and  indi- 
cated for  the  welfare  of  the  College  that  some  one  identified  with 
the  Proprietary  interest  should  preside  over  their  deliberations, 
and  who  so  fitting  as  the  constant  churchman  and  faithful  Secre- 
tary Richard  Peters,  whose  election  if  any  other  was  to  be 
chosen  could  not  but  be  acceptable  to  his  friend  Franklin. 

THOMAS  LEECH  was  the  son  of  Toby  and  Hester  Leech  of 
Cheltenham,  Gloucestershire,  who  came  to  America  in  the  year 
1682,  and  settled  in  Cheltenham  township,  now  in  Montgomery 
County.  They  are  buried  in  Trinity  Church,  Oxford,  Philadel- 
phia, the  inscription  on  their  joint  stone  being  quoted  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Buchanan  in  his  Early  History  of  Trinity  Church. 31 
Thomas  Leech  was  clerk  to  the  Assembly  from  1723  to  1727, 
and  a  representative  of  Philadelphia  County  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  and  was  Speaker  pro  tem  in  1758  "in  the  room  of  Isaac 
Norris,  who  fell  sick."  In  the  controversy  in  the  assembly  over 
Judge  Moore's  case,  which  must  be  reviewed  in  later  pages  on 
account  of  Provost  Smith's  part  in  it,  Mr.  Leech  was  an  active 
participant,  and  was  Chairman  of  the  committee  which  framed 
the  address  to  the  Governor  asking  Moore's  removal.  He  was 
a  Vestryman  of  Christ  Church  for  many  years,  and  Warden  in 
1728  and  again  in  1746-47.  He  was  with  his  fellow  Trustees, 
Lawrence  and  Peters,  signer  of  the  letter  of  23  April,  1741, 
from  the  Vestry  of  Christ  Church  to  the  Bishop  of  London 
announcing  the  death  of  the  Rector,  Rev.  Archibald  Cummings. 
And  we  find  him  in  1760  joining  with  many  of  his  fellow  trus- 

31  Two  Discourses,  &c.,  Philadelphia,  1885,  p,  108.  Their  second  son  John 
born  in  Philadelphia  shortly  after  their  arrival  was  said  to  have  been  the  first  male 
child  born  here  of  English  parents  :  Old  York  Road  and  its  Early  Associations, 
Philadelphia,  1890,  p.  67. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         83 

tees,  viz :  Allen,  Masters,  M'Call,  Syng,  Willing,  Taylor,  the 
two  Bonds,  Plumsted,  and  Coleman,  on  a  subscription  for 
restoring  the  Glebe  House  of  Oxford  Parish  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  fire.  He  was  a  very  regular  attendant  on  the 
meetings  of  the  Trustees  until  within  two  or  three  years  of  his 
death  which  occurred  31  March,  1762,  his  last  attendance  being 
on  28  November,  1761.  At  the  meeting  of  8  June,  1762,  Mr. 
Lyn-Ford  Lardner  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  He  married  in 
1722,  Ann  Moore,  and  had  two  sons,  Thomas  and  William.  The 
Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  8  April,  1762,  thus  records  his 
obituary: 

On  the  3  ist  ulto  in  the  Evening,  departed  this  Life,  Thomas  Leech, 
Esq.  in  the  77th  year  of  his  age  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  of  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing was  interred  in  St.  Paul's  Church  in  this  city,  where  a  Sermon 
suitable  to  the  occasion,  was  preached  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  William 
M'Clanachan,  A.  M.  and  Minister  of  that  Church,  to  a  crowded  and 
weeping  Audience.  He  was  a  citizen,  not  more  distinguished  for  the 
Honour  conferred  on  him,  in  several  Offices  of  Public  Trust  (which  he 
discharged  for  a  long  series  of  Years,  with  the  approbation  of  his  country) 
than  for  his  amiable  and  familiar  virtues  in 

the  mild  Majesty  of  private  Life 

where  he  shone  as  a  practical  Philosopher,  and  a  sincere  Christian, 
abounding  with  unaffected  Goodness  and  exemplary  Piety,  and  a  most 
rare  Pattern  of  that  ancient  Simplicity  which  so  beautifully  characterised 
the  first  Fathers  of  our  Metropolis  ;  so  that  the  words  of  the  Poet  may, 
with  the  greatest  Propriety,  be  applied  to  him. 

'  Born  to  no  Pride,  inheriting  no  strife, ' 
But  led  by  Virtue  through  the  Paths  of  life  ; 
'  Stranger  to  Discord,  and  to  civil  Rage 
The  good  Man  walked  innoxious  thro'  his  Age 
No  Courts  he  saw,  no  Suits  would  ever  try, 
Nor  said  an  Oath,  nor  hazarded  a  Lye.' 


84         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Doctor  WILLIAM  SHIPPEN  was  born  in  Philadelphia  I  Octo- 
ber, 1712,  the  son  of  Joseph  Shippen,  a  native  of  Boston,  who 
moved  to  Philadelphia  about  1704,  and  who  became  in  1727 
one  of  Franklin's  Junto.  He  was  the  son  of  Edward  Shippen, 
who  was  named  by  William  Penn  in  his  charter  of  25  October, 
1 70 1,  as  the  first  Mayor  thereunder  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,32 
and  who  was  President  of  the  Council,  1702-04,  and  in  May, 
1703,  became  the  actual  head  of  the  government  until  Governor 
Evans  arrival  in  December  following.  Joseph's  connection  with 
the  Junto  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  inclined  to  self  improve- 
ment, and  whose  leisure  enabled  him  to  pursue  any  special  line 
of  study.  His  eldest  son  Edward,  William's  senior  by  nine 
years,  entered  mercantile  life  under  James  Logan,  and  later  was 
in  business  with  him  as  Logan  &  Shippen,  and  in  1749  with 
Thomas  Lawrence,  one  of  the  College  Trustees,  as  Shippen  and 
Lawrence;  he  was  also  Mayor  of  the  City  in  1744,  and  after- 
wards Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas.  In  1748,  he  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  Princeton  College  and  one  of  its  first  Trustees, 
which  he  remained  until  his  resignation  in  1767  and  was  a  sub- 
scriber to  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  of  which  his  brother 
William  was  now  one  of  the  first  trustees.  William  himself 
became  a  Trustee  of  Princeton  College  in  1765  which  he 
remained  until  his  resignation  in  1796.  His  tastes  for  scientific 
pursuits  were  fostered  by  his  father,  and  an  early  inclination  for 
the  study  of  medicine  developed  the  rare  talent  he  possessed 
for  a  successful  practice  of  it,  by  which  he  attained  a  high 
reputation  and  secured  an  extensive  business  which  remained  to 
him  through  his  long  life.  But  diligent  as  he  was  in  his  profes- 
sional duties,  and  reliant  as  he  was  in  the  medical  knowledge  of 
his  day  for  the  cure  of  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to,  the  story 
is  told  of  him  that  on  occasion  of  his  being  complimented  by  a 
friend  on  the  number  of  cures  he  effected,  he  replied,  "  My  friend, 
Nature  does  a  great  deal,  and  the  grave  covers  up  our  mistakes." 
He  was  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  more  education  than  could 


32  Humphrey  Morrey  was  the  first  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia  under  the 
charter  of  1691.  See  Allison  £  Penrose,  Philadelphia,' a  History  of  Municipal 
Development. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         85 

be  had  in  the  colonies,  and  when  he  found  his  son  William 
intending  the  same  profession,  he  sent  him  to  Europe  when  he 
was  twenty  one  years  of  age,  and  in  1761  the  latter  received  his 
degree  of  Doctor  in  Medicine  at  Edinburgh,  and  four  years  later 
we  find  his  election  in  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  as  the 
first  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  new  medical 
school  of  the  college.  Doctor  William  Shippen,  Senior,  as  he 
now  became  known  on  his  son's  rising  reputation,  found  his 
name  worthily  reproduced  in  his  son,  who  added  fresh  honors 
and  dignity  to  it. 

Dr.  Shippen  interested  himself  in  public  affairs,  and  foresaw 
the  coming  shadows  of  the  Revolution.  On  20  November,  1778, 
when  these  shadows  were  the  heaviest,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Continental  Congress  by  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  re-elected  in  the  November  following.  He  retained  an 
interest  in  his  father's  associations  and  was  Vice  President  in 
1768  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  the  child  of  the 
Junto.  He  was  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Medical  Staff 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  from  1753-1778  ;  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  a  member  of 
it  for  sixty  years.  His  life  was  serene  and  useful ;  and  posses- 
sing a  temper  calm  and  equable,  and  the  affection  of  all  who 
knew  him,  he  died  4  November,  1801,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of 
his  age.33  He  retained  his  trusteeship  in  the  College  until  the 
abrogation  of  the  charter  in  1779,  and  was  made  one  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  new  institution  created  in  its  place,  the  University 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  remained  until  1786. 
His  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  testifies  to  his 
interest  in  the  institution,  as  his  absences  were  very  few ;  and 
the  action  of  the  Trustees  were  often  influenced  by  his  sage 
counsel,  though  for  two  years  from  April,  1761,  he  did  not 
attend,  and  most  of  the  meetings  in  1764  and  1765  he  missed. 

Dr.  Shippen  married  19  September,  173 5, Susannah  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  Harrison  of  Philadelphia,  who  died  some  years 


33  His  mode  of  life  was  simple  and  it  was  said  that  up  to  his  final  illness  he 
had  never  tasted  wine  nor  spirits.  His  temper  was  never  ruffled  and  his  benevolence 
was  without  stint.  Dr.  Morton's  history  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  p.  489. 


86         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

before  him.  His  sons  William  and  Joseph  were  graduates  of 
Princeton,  1754  and  1758.  The  latter  also  studied  medicine 
under  his  father,  and  going  abroad  for  further  studies,  took  his 
degree  at  the  University  of  Rheims.  Dr.  Shippen's  nephew, 
Joseph,  the  son  of  his  elder  brother  Joseph,  was  a  graduate  of 
the  college  in  1761.  His  sister  Anne  was  wife  of  Charles 
Willing,  his  fellow  trustee. 

ROBERT  STRETTELL  was  born  in  Dublin  in  1693  the  son  of 
Amos  Strettell,  a  native  of  Cheshire  who  had  moved  to  Ireland 
about  fifteen  years  before  this.  Robert  left  Dublin  as  a  young 
man  to  try  his  fortune  in  London,  where  he  passed  about  twenty 
years  of  his  life,  but  losing  his  property  in  the  South  Sea  Bubble, 
he  came  to  America  about  1736  to  retrieve  his  affairs.  He  soon 
took  an  active  part  in  public  concerns,  and  was  one  of  the 
Friends  who  favored  Logan's  views  as  to  the  needs  of  the  Province 
to  defend  itself  against  foreign  enemies.  He  was  invited  by 
Governor  Thomas  to  the  Council,  and  he  qualified  14  December, 
1741.  He  became  an  Alderman  in  1748,  and  Mayor  in  Octo- 
ber 1751,  and  on  the  close  of  the  latter  term,  instead  of  giving 
the  customary  collation,  contributed  £75.  to  the  Public  Build- 
ing. In  council  he  was  an  active  member,  and  supported  the 
more  warlike  members  during  the  French  War.  He  died  in 
June  1761,  and  was  buried  in  the  Friends  Ground.  He  married 
in  1716  Philotesia  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Owen  of  Seven  Oaks, 
Kent.  Of  their  children,  Frances  married  Isaac  Jones  who 
was  a  Trustee  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  1771  ;  Amos 
succeeded  to  his  father's  interest  in  provincial  politics  and  in  the 
Trusteeship  of  the  College  and  married  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Hasell  the  Councillor;  John  became  an  opulent  merchant 
in  London  ;  and  Robert  died  before  his  father. 

Mr.  Strettell  was  not  behind  his  fellows  in  their  attendance 
on  the  meetings  of  the  Trust ;  his  last  years  of  service  found 
him  less  able  to  attend  with  regularity.  The  last  meeting  at 
which  his  name  appears  was  31  March,  1760  ;  and  at  the  meet- 
ing of  8  June,  1762,  his  son  Mr.  Amos  Strettell  was  elected  a 
Trustee. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         87 

PHILIP  SYNG  was  born  in  Ireland  in  November  1703  the  son 
of  Philip  Syng,  who  with  his  son  arrived  at  Annapolis,  Md.  in  Sep- 
tember 1714,  and  who  there  died  in  1739.  The  son  had  before 
this  settled  in  Philadelphia,  as  we  find  him  in  the  Franklin  circle, 
a  member  of  the  Junto  and  in  1731  one  of  the  first  Directors  of 
the  new  Library  Company.  He  acquired  a  high  reputation  as 
a  silver-smith,  his  skill  being  shown  by  several  works  of  art  yet 
in  existence,  one  being  an  inkstand  made  by  him  in  1752  for  the 
General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  used  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  while  in  Philadelphia,  and  at  the  signing  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  yet  preserved  in  the  Hall  to 
which  the  latter  gave  its  name.  He  engraved  the  first  seal  for 
the  Library  Company.  He  was  a  member  of  the  noted  "  Fish- 
ing Company  of  the  State  in  Schuylkill"  as  it  was  called.  He 
was  one  of  the  Associators  of  1747;  a  Vestryman  of  Christ 
Church  from  1747  to  1749  ;  and  a  signer  of  the  Non  Importation 
Resolutions  of  1765.  He  was  devoted  to  scientific  pursuits, 
and  the  developments  of  the  times  in  the  use  and  force  of  Elec- 
tricity were  aided  by  his  experiments  and  discoveries,  and  Frank- 
lin made  acknowledgment  of  the  aid  he  had  furnished  him  in 
many  of  his  experiments.  In  a  note  to  his  letter  of  1 1  July, 
1747  to  Mr.  Collinson,  Franklin  refers  to  certain  experiments 
"  by  means  of  little,  light  windmill  wheels  made  of  stiff  paper 
vanes"  as  "made  and  communicated  to  me  by  my  worthy  and 
ingenious  friend  Mr  Philip  Syng;"  and  of  another  experiment, 
thus,  "  His  simple,  easily  made  machine  was  a  contrivance  of 
Mr.  Syng's."34  Franklin  could  appreciate  the  ingenuity  of  such 
a  skilful  craftsman.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  dying  8  May, 
1789,  was  buried  in  Christ  Church  Burying  Ground.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  Edmund  Physick  and  became  the  mother  of 


31  Bigelow,  ii.  66.     He  writes  Franklin  the  following  letter: 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  i,  1766. 

DEAR  SIR — I  received  yours  of  26th  of  September  last  with  your  very  agreeable 
Present  Doctor  Lewis's  new  Work.  You  judged  very  right  that  I  should  rind  in  it 
entertaining  Particulars  in  ray  Way — the  Management  of  Gold  &  Silver  is  treated  of 
in  it  better  £  more  particularly  than  I  have  met  with  in  any  Author. 

The  regard  you  have  always  shewn  me  requires  my  acknowledgment,  which 
I  wish  to  make  by  serviceable  Actions,  because  they  speak  louder  than  Words,  but  I 
fear  I  shall  be  insolvent.  The  Junto  fainted  last  Summer  in  the  hot  Weather  and 


88         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Philip  Syng  Physick,  a  graduate  in  1785  of  the  University,  for 
whom  the  Chair  of  Surgery  was  created  in  1805,  which  he 
filled  until  1819  when  he  took  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  in  which 
he  continued  until  1831.  The  name  of  Philip  Syng  was  borne 
to  a  later  generation  by  this  worthy  descendant  who  has  been 
called  the  Father  of  American  Surgery. 

Mr.  Syng's  attendance  on  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees 
was  very  constant  up  to  the  time  of  Franklin's  departure  on  his 
first  mission;  but  from  14  June,  175710  12  May,  1769  he  attended 
but  four  meetings  these  inclusive  ;  and  this  last  attendance  may 
have  been  due  to  a  Minute  of  the  meeting  of  8  May  previous, 

viz  : 

Dr.  Smith  is  desired  to  wait  upon  Mr.  Philip  Syng  to  ask  him 
whether  he  will  be  pleased  to  attend  the  future  meetings  of  the  Trustees, 
as  the  Business  of  the  College  suffers  greatly  for  want  of  a  regular  attend- 
ance of  the  members  ;  Mr.  Syng  in  particular,  not  having  attended  more 
than  once  or  twice  for  several  years.  If  Mr.  Syng  should  mention  any 
particular  Inconvenience  in  his  attending  the  Duty  of  a  Trustee,  it  is 
desired  that  he  may  be  asked  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  him  that 
another  should  be  chosen  in  his  Room. 

However,  nothing  was  done,  nor  did  Mr.  Syng  again 
attend,  until  at  the  meeting  of  8  June,  1773  notice  was  given  of 
"  a  new  Trustee  being  wanted  in  the  Room  of  Mr.  Philip  Syng 
who  has  removed  with  his  Family  to  more  than  five  Miles  Dis- 
tance from  the  City  ;"  when  at  the  meeting  of  15  June  Mr. 
Samuel  Powel  was  elected.  He  was  a  member  of  St.  John's 
Lodge  in  1734,  Junior  Grand  Warden  in  1737,  Deputy  Grand 
Master  in  1738,  and  Grand  Master  in  1741. 

CHARLES  WILLING  was  born  in  Bristol,  England,  18  May, 
1710,  the  son  of  Thomas  Willing,  a  merchant  of  that  city,  who 
brought  the  son  to  Philadelphia  about  the  year  1828.  A  cousin 
of  the  father,  also  a  Thomas  Willing,  founded  and  laid  out  Wil- 


has  not  yet  reviv'd,  your  Presence  might  reanimate  it,  without  which  I  apprehend  it 
will  never  recover. 

I  am  dear  Sir  your  affectionate  Friend  and  oblig'd  Humble  Serv't,  PHIL  SYNG. 
Addressed :     To  Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq,  Postmaster  general  of  North   America  in 
London,  pr  Capt  Sparks. — MS  letter  with  the  American  Philosophical  Soc'y.    The 
gift  referred  to  was  doubtless  the  Commercium  Philosophico-technicum,  in  its  new 
and  last  edition,  of  Dr.  William  Lewis,  who  died  in  1786.     Allibone. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         89 

ling's  Town  now  Wilmington,  Delaware.  Charles  entered  into 
mercantile  business  and  took  charge  of  the  house  his  elder 
brother  Thomas,  who  returned  to  England,  had  founded  in 
1726.  He  was  successful  in  his  operations  and  speculations, 
and  established  a  credit  at  home  and  abroad  which  redounded 
to  the  welfare  and  influence  of  his  adopted  city.  He  was  very 
active  in  the  formation  of  the  Philadelphia  Associators  in  1747, 
and  must  here  have  been  much  with  Franklin  in  his  efforts  to 
make  this  defensive  association  a  success.  He  was  Mayor  of 
the  City  in  1748,  and  again  in  1754,  dying  30  November,  1754, 
of  ship  fever  contracted  it  is  said  whilst  in  the  discharge  of 
some  of  his  official  duties.  Mr.  Willing  married  21  January, 
1731,  Anne,  daughter  of  Joseph  Shippen,  son  of  the  Councillor, 
and  sister  of  William  Shippen,  M.  D.,  the  Elder,  a  Trustee.  Of  his 
children,  his  eldest  son  Thomas  became  a  Trustee  in  1760, 
and  in  1761  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  married  Anne, 
daughter  of  Samuel  M'Call  junior,  also  a  Trustee,  and  was 
father  of  Thomas  Mayne  Willing  a  Trustee  of  the  University  in 
1800,  and  of  Anne  who  married  William  Bingham,  a  Trustee 
in  1789;  Anne,  married  Tench  Francis,  son  of  Tench  Francis  a 
Trustee  ;  Mary,  married  Col.  William  Byrd  of  Westover,  Vir- 
ginia ;  Elizabeth,  married  Samuel  Powel,  a  Trustee  in  1773; 
and  Margaret,  married  to  Robert  Hare,  a  Trustee  in  1789,  and 
became  the  mother  of  Charles  Willing  Hare,  whose  son  Rev. 
George  Emlen  Hare,  D.  D.  was  Assistant  Professor  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Languages  in  the  University  in  1844,  and  of  Dr. 
Robert  Hare,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  from 
1818  to  1848,  whose  son  John  Innes  Clark  Hare,  a  graduate  of 
the  University  in  1834,  was  a  Trustee  in  1858,  resigning  in  1868, 
to  take  the  Professorship  of  the  Institute  of  Law  which  he  held 
until  1889,  when  he  became  Emeritus  Professor. 

The  following  obituary  notice  by  Franklin  of  Mr.  Willing 
appeared  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  5  December,  1754. 
The  portion  which  is  a  quotation,  is  by  the  Rev.  William  Smith. 

Last  Saturday,  after  a  short  Illness,  departed  this  Life,  in  the  45th 
Year  of  his  age,  CHARLES  WILLING,  Esqre  ;  Mayor  of  this  City.  As  it  may 
be  truly  said  that  this  Community  had  not  a  more  useful  Member,  his 


QO         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Death  is  justly  lamented    as  a  public  Loss  to  his  country,  as  well  as  an 
almost  irretrievable  Loss  to  his  Family  and  Friends. 

In  the  Character  of  a  Magistrate,  he  was  patient,  indefatigable,  and 
actuated  by  a  Steady  Zeal  for  Justice.  As  a  Merchant,  it  was  thought  that 
no  Person  amongst  us  understood  COMMERCE  in  General,  and  the  trading 
Interests  of  this  Province  in  particular,  better  than  he,  and  his  Success  in 
Business  was  proportionably  Great.  As  a  Friend,  he  was  faithful,  candid 
and  sincere.  As  a  Husband  and  Parent  few  ever  exceeded  him  in  Tender- 
ness and  Affection.  Being  himself  a  sincere  Christian,  he  was  strictly 
attentive  to  the  Education  of  his  children  in  every  virtuous  Qualification, 
and  in  a  particular  Manner  he  was  remarkable  in  the  Discharge  of  that 
essential  part  of  a  Parent's  Duty,  so  little  considered, — a  regular  attend- 
ance, together  with  his  numerous  Family,  on  the  public  Worship  of  GOD. 
And  for  this  accordingly,  they  will  now  have  Reason  to  bless  his  Memory  ; 
since  the  Impression,  thereby  received,  will  go  farther  to  teach  them  how 
to  bear  their  present  heavy  Affliction,  and  recommend  them  to  the  Favor 
of  the  World  (degenerate  as  it  is)  than  all  the  external  Advantages — all  the 
Fortune,  Graces,  and  Good  Nature  he  has  left  them  possessed  of. 

Mr.  Smith  also  supplied  an  "  Ode  to  the  Memory  of  Charles 
Willing,  Esq.,"  of  which  the  first  Stanza  is 

Once  more  I  seek  the  cypress  shade, 
To  weave  a  garland  for  the  dead, 

Alone,  dejected,  wan  ! 
Shall  Willing  quit  this  mortal  strife, 
And  not  a  verse  show  him,  in  life 
And  death — AN  HONEST  MAN  ? 

Mr.  Willing  gave  much  attendance  to  the  meetings  of  the 
Trustees,  with  only  an  interval  from  July  1750  to  November, 
1751.  The  last  he  attended  was  on  17  September  1754.  At 
the  meeting  of  n  February,  1755,  Mr.  Alexander  Stedman  was 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by  his  death. 

Doctor  PHINEAS  BOND  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1717,  the 
younger  brother  of  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  also  a  Trustee.  He  was, 
as  well  as  his  brother  educated  in  his  native  state,  and  pursued 
his  studies  during  foreign  travel,  visiting  at  length  Leyden, 
Paris,  Edinburgh  and  London  for  this  purpose.  He  did  not 
devote  himself  to  surgery  as  did  his  brother ;  but  Dr.  Thacher 
says  of  him  "no  medical  man  of  his  time  in  this  country  left 
behind  him  a  brighter  character  for  professional  sagacity,  or  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          91 

amiable  qualities  of  the  heart."  He  shared  with  his  brother 
many  of  his  tastes  for  scientific  and  philosophic  pursuits,  and 
was  under  Franklin's  lead  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society  ;  Franklin  writes  to  Cadwallader  Golden 
on  5  April,  1744,  "  I  can  now  acquaint  you,  that  the  Society,  as 
far  as  it  relates  to  Philadelphia,  is  actually  formed,  and  has  had 
several  meetings  to  mutual  satisfaction."  And  in  enumerating 
the  members  he  describes  Dr.  Phineas  Bond  as  General  Natural 
Philosopher,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Bond — who  heads  his  list — as 
Physician.35  His  interest  also  in  public  affairs  was  evidenced  by 
being  a  member  of  Common  Council  from  1747  until  his  death. 
He  married  4  August,  1748,  Williamina  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Moore  of  Moore  Hall,  Chester  County,  Penn'a,  her  younger 
sister  Rebecca  marrying  Dr.  William  Smith,  the  Provost  of  the 
College  in  1759.  Dr.  Bond's  eldest  son,  Phineas,36  was  a 
loyalist  during  the  Revolution,  and  later  was  made  British 
Consul  at  Philadelphia,  which  he  remained  for  several  years  at 
the  end  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  this  century ;  he  died  in 
London  29  December,  1815.  Of  Dr.  Bond's  daughters,  Williamina 
married  General  John  Cadwalader  who  became  a  Trustee  of  the 
College  in  1779,  and  Elizabeth  married  John  Travis  of  Phila- 
delphia. Dr.  Bond  died  II  June,  1773,  and  he  was  buried  in 
Christ  Church  Burying  Ground,  where  a  simple  stone  marks  the 
last  resting  place  of  "  Doctor  PHINEAS  BOND,  Esq.  "  His 
attendance  at  the  Trustees  meetings  was  frequent  to  the  last, 
with  sometimes  only  intervals  of  a  few  months.  His  last  attend- 
ance was  on  i  January,  1773.  On  the  18  June  following,  Mr. 
Thomas  Mifflin  was  elected  his  successor.  An  obituary  to  him 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  14  June,  1773  recites  :  "Early  on 
Friday  morning  last,  to  the  inexpressible  grief  of  all  who  knew 
him,  departed  this  life  in  his  fifty-sixth  year,  Dr.  Phineas  Bond, 
a  gentleman  long  and  justly  acknowledged  to  be  of  the  first 
eminence  in  his  profession." 


55  Bigelow,  ii.  I. 

36  A  letter  from  Deborah  Franklin  of  introduction  to  her  husband  of  young 
Phineas  Bond,  dated  n  Octo.,  1770,  is  given  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  v.  510. 


92          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

RICHARD  PETERS,  was  born  in  Liverpool  about  1704,  the 
son  of  Ralph  Peters,  town  clerk  of  that  place.  He  was  sent 
when  quite  young  to  Westminster  School,  where  he  finished 
before  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  Instead  of  going  to  Oxford, 
his  parents  sent  him  to  Leyden,  and  on  his  return  to  England 
he  undertook  the  study  of  law,  although  against  his  will,  for  he 
had  an  inclination  to  take  orders.  He  was  five  years  in  the 
Inner  Temple,  but  his  predilections  for  the  ministry  increasing 
with  time,  his  father  finally  consented  to  his  taking  orders  and 
he  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  20  September, 
1729,  Deacon,  and  was  ordained  Priest  24  March,  1730. 
He  became  curate  at  Latham  Chapel  in  the  parish  of  Ormskirk, 
and  subsequently  became  tutor  of  two  young  wards  and  kins- 
men of  the  Earl  of  Derby,  and  lived  with  the  latter  until  July, 
1735.  A  youthful  marriage  which  he  contracted  while  at 
Westminster  school,  but  which  was  not  consummated,  with  a 
domestic,  was  the  cause  of  his  going  to  Leyden  instead  of 
Oxford  ;  but  the  woman  was  supposed  to  have  died  about  1733, 
and  he  married  in  1734  Miss  Stanley,  sister  of  his  pupils.  But 
within  a  few  months,  the  information  of  the  death  of  the  woman 
having  proven  unfounded,  he  left  England  and  his  wife  and 
came  to  Bristol,  Pennsylvania,  the  residence  of  Andrew  Ham- 
ilton's wife,  whose  first  husband,  Preeson,  had  been  a  maternal 
relative  of  his.  He  became  assistant  to  the  Rev.  Archibald 
Cummings  at  Christ  Church. 

But  in  a  brief  space,  dissensions  arose  between  him  and 
his  Rector,  and  eventually  the  Bishop  of  London  suspended  his 
license.  However,  the  Vestry  showed  their  estimation  of  him 
in  their  letter  of  28  July,  1737,  to  the  Bishop,  "though  this 
gentleman,"  they  say, 

for  reasons  which  we  humbly  beg  leave  to  say  appear  to  us  to  be  just,  has 
thought  fit  to  decline  continuing  to  give  his  assistance  *  *  *  yet  it  is 
true  that,  during  the  time  he  has  exercised  his  ministerial  function  in  this 
city,  he  has  given  great  satisfaction  in  general  to  our  congregation,  and 
has  been  of  real  service  to  the  Church  of  England  ;  to  which,  by  his  con- 
duct, both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of  it,  he  has  drawn  great  numbers  of  the 
more  understanding  Dissenters  of  all  persuasions, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          93 

Failing  now  work  in  the  ministry,  his  energies  found 
employment  as  Secretary  in  the  Land  Office,  and  for  twenty-five 
years  he  continued  in  that  capacity,  becoming  in  fact  the  real  estate 
agent  for  the  Proprietaries.  In  this  office,  he  attained  great  dis- 
cretion, showing  how  well  the  confidence  of  the  Penns  in  him 
was  justified.  Referring  to  this  parochial  controversy,  Bishop 
White  says  of  it :  "It  was  said  that  Dr.  Peters'  acquaintance 
had  been  cultivated  by  the  genteelest  families  in  the  city ;  but 
that,  being  no  favorite  with  the  then  rector  of  Christ  Church,  the 
Rev.  Archibald  Cummings,  he  accepted  from  the  proprietary  gov- 
ernment the  secretaryship  of  the  land  office,  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  a  considerable  fortune."  Thomas  Penn  said  of  him  a 
few  years  after  this  appointment,  "  he  has  always  discharged  it 
with  great  faithfulness  and  his  understanding  and  temper  render 
him  very  fit  for  such  an  office  where  he  must  transact  business 
with  a  great  number  of  ignorant  people  closely  tied  to  their 
own  interests."  This  was  in  1741,  when  on  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cummings,  the  Vestry  of  Christ  Church  recom- 
mended him  to  the  Bishop  of  London  for  a  license,  designing  to 
make  him  Mr.  Cummings'  successor  in  the  Rectorship.  The 
petition,  however,  failed  ;  his  connection  with  the  proprietary 
interests  led  to  jealousies  lest  such  influence  would  prevail  in  the 
Church  and  mar  its  ecclesiastical  independence.  Peters  sub- 
mitted, to  save  contention,  though  his  influence  was  so  great  in 
the  parish  as  to  have  caused  an  entire  independency  of  the 
Bishop's  license  had  he  in  any  way  encouraged  it.  He  became 
a  member  of  the  Vestry  in  1740,  and  again  from  1745-1752 
and  served  the  Church  faithfully  in  this  capacity  for  these  years. 
His  secular  work  meanwhile  grew  upon  him,  he  being  appointed 
14  February,  1743,  Secretary  of  the  Province  and  Clerk  to  the 
Council.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Franklin  having  drawn  up  his 
first  plans  for  the  establishment  of  a  charity  school  relied  upon 
Peters  to  take  the  matter  in  hand  and  become  the  head  of  the 
needed  institution  ;  but  this  Peters  declined.  On  19  May,  1749, 
on  a  suggestion  from  the  Proprietaries,  he  was  made  a  member 
of  the  Council  and  at  once  qualified.  This  year  saw  the  con- 
summation of  Franklin's  proposal  for  an  Academy  and  Charitable 


94          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

School,  and  he  became  a  hearty  co-worker  in  it,  and  preached 
a  sermon  at  the  opening.  He  became  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  in  1756.  He  was  one  of  the  four  representatives 
of  Pennsylvania  in  the  Congress  at  Albany  in  1754;  and  in 
the  year  1756,  in  a  conference  with  the  Indians  at  Fort  Stanwix, 
he  baptized  several  of  them,  of  which  he  had  record  made  in 
Christ  Church  registers  on  his  return.  Though  thus  in  actual 
secular  duties,  and  entitled  Esquire  in  the  organization  of  the 
Academy,  he  yet  could  not  forego  special  exercises  of  his  min- 
istry. In  the  beginning  of  1762  he  resigned  his  Secretaryship, 
but  continued  member  of  the  Council.  In  the  same  year,  he 
consented  to  officiate  regularly  at  Christ  Church  in  young 
Duche's  absence  abroad  seeking  priests  orders,  and  when  the 
old  incumbent  Dr.  Jenney  died,  he  was  elected  Rector  of  the 
United  Churches  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peters  in  December, 
1762.  This  met  the  confirmation  of  the  Bishop  of  London  the 
following  year.  In  this  incumbency  he  continued  until  his 
resignation  23  September,  1775.  He  died  IO  July  following, 
and  was  buried  in  front  of  the  chancel  of  Christ  Church.  The 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  had  been  conferred  on  him  by 
Oxford  in  1770.  In  1772  he  sought  the  aid  of  two  Assistants 
in  his  cure,  in  addition  to  the  aid  rendered  by  Mr.  Duche,  who 
had  been  Assistant  from  1759,  and  the  Vestry  appointed  on  his 
recommendation  two  young  graduates  of  the  College  and 
Academy,  William  White  of  the  class  of  1765  and  Thomas 
Coombe  of  the  class  of  1766;  and  on  his  resignation  he  was 
succeeded  as  Rector  by  Mr.  Duche  who  was  of  the  class  of  1757. 
As  Bishop  White  was  associated  with  Dr.  Peters  in  Church 
and  in  College,  we  may  find  a  fitting  description  of  him  by  the 
Bishop's  pen.  "Dr.  Peters  was  a  native  of  England  *  *  :  he 
was  then  a  young  clergyman,  of  a  respectable  family  in  Liver- 
pool, of  an  excellent  education,  and  of  polished  manners  : 
At  an  age  turned  of  sixty,  he  gave  up  his  lucrative  offices,  and 
became  more  serious  in  religious  concerns  than  at  any  former 
period  of  his  life ;  although  his  morals  had  been  correct,  his 
attendance  on  public  worship  constant  and  solemn,  and  his 
preaching  occasional.  *  *  *  He  adopted  the  notions  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         95 

Jacob  Boehm  and  William  Law ;  in  consequence  of  which  his 
sermons  were  not  always  understood.  In  social  discourse,  he 
could  be  exceedingly  entertaining  *  *  *  yet  from  the 
moment  of  turning  the  conversation  to  religion,  he  was  in  the 
clouds."37 

Dr.  Peters  interest  in  the  College  and  Academy  was  second 
only  to  that  of  Franklin,  and  he  shared  in  all  the  counsels  of 
the  latter  in  its  inception  and  firm  establishment  He  suc- 
ceeded the  latter  as  President  of  the  Board  and  continued  the 
leadership  for  many  years.  His  attendance  at  the  meetings  was 
more  constant  than  any  other,  not  even  excepting  William 
Coleman,  the  only  interval  of  any  note  being  that  from  July 
1764  to  December  1765  inclusive.  The  last  time  he  attended 
the  meetings  was  on  19  March  1776.  At  the  meeting  of 
5  October,  1778,  Mr.  Robert  Morris  by  election  succeeded  him 
as  Trustee.  His  connection  with  the  Proprietary  interests  fur- 
thered the  material  recognition  of  the  new  institution  by  the 
Penns,  and  both  financially  and  politically  the  association  was 
valuable.  In  Franklin's  early  absences  abroad,  Dr.  Peters  with 
the  Trustees  and  Dr.  Smith  in  the  Faculty  kept  in  motion  the 
busy  work  of  the  College.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  this  par- 
ticular influence  may  signally  have  failed  of  advantage  in  the 
trying  times  of  the  Revolution,  and  have  contributed  to  those 
suspicions  which  claimed  to  be  the  basis  of  the  charter  abroga- 
tion of  1779,  which  alone  could  have  been  prevented  by  Frank- 
lin's presence,  who  was  then  too  far  across  the  seas  on  public 
duties  to  wrestle  with  a  suspicious  Governor  and  unstable 
Legislature. 

Dr.  Peters'  brother,  William,  was  father  of  Richard  Peters, 
a  graduate  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  1761,  Judge  of  the 
U.  S.  District  Court  from  1791  to  1828,  a  Trustee  of  the  College 
from  1789  to  1791  ;  he  was  the  owner  of  Belmont  Mansion  on 
the  Schuylkill,  now  in  Fairmount  Park. 


S7  Afemoir,  by  Dr.  Wilson,  p.  27. 


96          HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ABRAM  TAYLOR  was  born  in  England  about  1703,  and  came 
to  Philadelphia  from  Bristol,  and  was  soon  engaged  in  a  success- 
ful business  ;  it  is  said  his  partner  desiring  to  return  to  England 
in  1741  sold  him  his  interest  in  the  business  for  ^7000  stg. 
Taylor  was  at  this  time  in  the  City  Corporation,  and  on  29 
December,  1741,  qualified  as  a  member  of  the  Governor's 
Council.  In  the  latter  part  of  1744  the  office  for  the  collection 
of  the  customs  being  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Alexander  he 
assumed  its  duties  under  a  Deputation  from  Bedford  the  titular 
Collector,  "  rather  than  a  friend  should  suffer  by  the  office  being 
depreciated  and  undervalued  since  the  commencement  of  a 
French  War."  He  was  elected  Mayor  in  1745,  but  declining 
to  serve  was  fined  ^30.  He  was  made  Colonel  of  the  regiment 
of  Associators  for  Defence  formed  under  Franklin's  lead  in  the 
latter  part  of  1747,  the  Lieutenant  Colonelcy  being  offered  to 
the  latter  but  declined  when  Thomas  Lawrence  was  commis- 
sioned. He  fell  into  a  contest  with  the  Proprietaries  on  the 
purchase  by  him  of  a  claim  to  about  20,000  acres  of  land,  which 
they  were  unwilling  to  grant.  So  persistent  was  he  in  this,  that 
they  directed  Governor  Hamilton  to  strike  his  name  from  the 
Council.  He  urged  his  claim  in  England  in  1750;  and  return- 
ing to  Philadelphia,  he  continued  one  of  the  members  of  the 
City  Corporation  until  his  final  departure  from  the  Province,  in 

1762,  returning  to  the  old  country  and  taking  up  his  residence 
in  Bath  where  he  died  in  1772.  His  departure  from  the 
Province  was  signalised  by  a  public  dinner  given  him  by  his 
friends  which  attracted  a  notice  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of 

i  July,  1762  : 

On  Thursday  last  an  elegant  Entertainment  was  prepared  in  the  State 
House  by  a  Number  of  the  principal  Gentlemen  of  this  city,  in  order  to 
bid  Adieu  to,  and  take  their  final  Farewell  of  ABRAHAM  TAYLOR,  Esq., 
late  one  of  the  Council,  an  Alderman  of  the  City,  and  Deputy  Collector  of 
the  Customs  in  this  Port,  now  going  to  reside  in  England.  Upwards  of 
One  Hundred  Gentlemen  attended  Mr.  Taylor  on  this  occasion,  and  the 
greatest  pleasure  appeared  on  every  countenance.  Towards  the  close  of 
this  very  agreeable  Entertainment  Mr.  Taylor  was  addressed  by  one  of  the 
Company,  in  the  Name  of  the  Whole,  and  Thanks  returned  him  for  his 
faithful  and  upright  Discharge  of  the  several  offices  he  had  the  Honour  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.          97 

fill,  during  a  Residence  of  upward  of  Thirty  Years  among  us  ;  and  for  his 
kind,  prudent,  blameless,  and  affectionate  Behaviour,  as  a  Friend,  Fellow 
Citizen  and  Companion  ;  and  the  best  and  most  cordial  Wishes  of  the 
whole  Company  attended  him,  for  his  safe  Passage  to,  and  future  Health 
and  Happiness  in  his  native  Land.  Mr.  Taylor  then  took  the  most  decent 
and  affectionate  Farewell  of  the  Company,  wished  them,  and  the  whole 
Province,  all  possible  Blessings,  Happiness  and  Prosperity.  The  Enter- 
tainment closed  in  the  Evening  with  great  Harmony,  becoming  good 
Citizens  parting  with  a  most  worthy  member. 

He  married  about  1733,  Philadelphia,  daughter  of  Patrick 
Gordon,  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  from  1726  to 

1735- 

Mr.  Taylor's  attendance  at  the  Trustees  meetings  resembled 
that  of  Mr.  Syng's  somewhat,  in  that  they  were  quite  regular  up 
to  the  forepart  of  1757,  when  Franklin  had  departed  on  his  first 
mission  abroad,  his  last  meeting  that  year  being  10  May,  after 
which  he  attended  one  in  May  1761,  and  his  last  on  18  May 
1762.  At  the  meeting  of  14  December,  1762  election  was  had 
for  a  Trustee  "to  be  chosen  in  the  room  of  Abraham  Taylor 
Esquire,  departed  out  of  the  Province,"  when  Mr.  Andrew 
Elliott  succeeded  him. 

Doctor  THOMAS  BOND  was  born  in  Calvert  county  Mary- 
land, in  1712.  He  prepared  himself  for  the  medical  profession 
under  the  well-known  Dr.  Hamilton,  and  afterwards  traveled  in 
Europe  in  furtherance  of  his  studies,  passing  some  time  in 
Paris,  where  he  attended  the  practice  of  the  Hotel  Dieu.38 
Returning  to  America,  he  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Philadelphia  in  1734,  and  soon  attracted  the  attention  and 
gained  the  confidence  of  the  public.  The  pursuit  of  his  pro- 
fession did  not  engross  his  attention,  for  we  find  him  an  active 
member  of  the  circle  of  young  inquirers  and  students  which 
grew  into  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and  he  gave  con- 
stant attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  young  Academy  and  College 
by  diligent  attendance  at  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  and  in 
1751  "conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  hospital  in  Philadel- 
phia *  *  which  was  originally  and  truly  his,"  as  Franklin 

88  American  Medical  Biography •,  James  Thacher,  i.  177. 


98         HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

records  in  his  autobiography ;  and  was  a  member  of  the  first 
board  of  managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  as  were  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  and  Richard  Peters,  his  fellow  trustees  in  the 
Academy.  On  the  opening  of  the  Hospital  in  1752,  the 
patients  were  regularly  attended  by  him  and  three  other  of  his 
fellow-trustees,  Drs.  Zachary,  Cadwaladerand  Phineas  Bond,  his 
brother;  and  in  1769  he  gave  the  first  course  of  clinical  lec- 
tures in  the  Hospital.  Of  his  introductory  lecture  to  this  course, 
delivered  3  December,  1766,  Dr.  Carson  says  "it  is  a  clear 
exposition  of  the  advantages  of  clinical  instruction  fn  connec- 
tion with  medical  education,  at  the  same  time  evincing  a  deep 
interest  in  the  medical  school  recently  established,  to  which,  as 
a  Trustee  of  the  College,  Dr.  Bond  had  most  zealously  given 
his  influence."  39 

In  1782  he  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  the  subject  being,  "  The  rank  and 
dignity  of  man  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  the  conveniences  and 
advantages  he  derives  from  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  a  prog- 
nostic of  the  increasing  grandeur  and  glory  of  America 
founded  on  the  nature  of  its  climate."  Dr.  Thacher  says  of 
him,  "  he  was  for  half  a  century  in  the  first  practice  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  remarkable  for  attention  to  the  cases  under  his  care, 
and  his  sound  judgment.  He  was  an  excellent  surgeon,  and  in 
the  year  1768  performed  two  operations  of  lithotomy  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital  with  success." 

He  continued  his  intercourse  by  correspodence  with  Frank- 
lin during  the  latter's  long  sojourn  abroad,  and  a  letter  of  the 
latter  written  at  Passy,  16  March,  1780,  acknowledges  Dr. 
Bond's  "  kind  letter  of  September  22d,  and  I  thank  you,"  he 
says  40 

for  the  pleasing  account  you  give  me  of  the  health  and  welfare  of  my  old 
friends,  Hugh  Roberts,  Luke  Morris,  Philip  Syng,  Samuel  Rhoads,  &c. , 
with  the  same  of  yourself  and  family.  Shake  the  old  ones  by  the  hand 
for  me,  and  give" the  young  ones  my  blessing.  For  my  own  part,  I  do  not 
find  that  I  grow  any  older.  *  *  *  Advise  those  old  friends  of  ours  to 

39  History  Medical  Department  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Joseph   Carson, 
M.  D.,  57. 

40  Bigelow,  vii.  36. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         99 

follow  my  example  :  Keep  up  your  spirits,  and  that  will  keep  up  your 
bodies ;  you  will  no  more  stoop  under  the  weight  of  age,  than  if  you  had 
swallowed  a  handspike. 

It  is  in  a  postscript  to  this  letter  he  adds : 

I  have  bought  some  valuable  books,  which  I  intend  to  present  to  the 
Society,  but  shall  not  send  them  till  safer  times. 

Dr.  Bond's  daughter,  Rebecca,  married  21  September, 
1768,  Thomas  Lawrence,  the  grandson  of  Thomas  Lawrence, 
the  Councillor  and  his  fellow-Trustee,  and  their  second  daugh- 
ter, Sarah  Rebecca,  married  Warren  de  Lancey,  a  grandson  of 
Governor  Cadwallader  Golden,  and  cousin  of  Provost  de  Lancey's 
father. 

He  was  described  as  of  a  delicate  constitution,  and  dis- 
posed to  pulmonary  consumption,  but  by  unremitting  care  of 
his  health  he  passed  beyond  the  threescore  and  ten  years,  though 
his  life  was  an  unceasingly  active  one,  both  in  practice  and 
authorship;  he  died  26  March,  1784.  His  remains  lie  in  Christ 
Church  Burying  Ground,  and  on  his  stone  is  engraven  this 
epitaph  : 

In  memory  of 

THOMAS  BOND  M  D 

who  practised  Physic  and  Surgery 

with  signal  reputation  and  success 

nearly  half  a  century. 

Lamented  and  beloved 

by  many 
Respected  and  esteemed 

by  all 

and  adorned  by  literary  honors 
sustained  by  him  with  dignity. 

He  was  as  constant  as  his  brother  in  his  attendance  on  the 
Trustees  meeting  and  was  one  of  the  faithful  ones  who  attended 
the  last  meeting  on  22  November,  1779,  under  the  charter  of 
1755,  the  only  one  of  the  original  Trustees  who  then  attended. 
He  was  a  member  of  St.  John's  Lodge  in  1734,  Junior  Grand 
Warden  in  1741,  and  Senior  Grand  Warden  in  1755. 


ioo       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

THOMAS  HOPKINSON  was  born  in  London  6  April,  1709,  the 
son  of  Thomas  Hopkinson  a  merchant  of  that  city.  His  educa- 
tion was  a  liberal  and  practical  one,  and  though  he  is  said  to 
have  been  at  Oxford  did  not  complete  his  studies  there.  He 
took  up  the  study  of  law,  and  at  twenty-two  years  of  age  decided 
on  venturing  himself  in  the  colonies,  coming  to  Pennsylvania  in 
1731,  and  at  once  engaging  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
He  became  deputy  to  Charles  Read,  Clerk  of  the  Orphans' 
Court  of  Philadelphia  County,  and  on  the  latter's  death  in  Janu- 
ary, 1737,  succeeded  him.  He  was  Master  of  the  Rolls  from  1736 
to  1741,  Deputy  Prothonotary  and  afterwards  Prothonotary  of 
Philadelphia  County,  and  chosen  in  October,  1741,  a  Common 
Councilman.  In  the  latter  year  he  succeeded  Andrew  Hamilton 
as  Judge  of  Vice-Admiralty  for  Pennsylvania,  and  on  1 3  May, 
1747,  became  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council.  But  his 
interests  were  not  confined  to  legal  or  political  channels,  and 
were  equally  given  to  literary  and  scientific  pursuits  in  associa- 
tion with  Franklin  and  his  circle,  and  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society  which  had  its  origin  in  the  Junto  he  was  made 
the  first  President.  And  when  the  Academy  was  planned  he 
became  an  active  Trustee  and  warmly  co-operated  with  Franklin 
in  all  its  concerns,  as  he  had  in  the  institution  of  the  new 
Library  Company  which  was  established  in  the  year  of  his 
arrival  in  the  Province.  In  scientific  affairs  he  was  a  zealous 
amateur,  and  shared  with  Franklin  in  some  of  the  wonderful 
developments  in  the  knowledge  of  electricity.  Franklin  writing  to 
his  friend  Peter  Collinson,  11  July,  1747,  "in  pursuing  our 
electrical  inquiries,  *  *  *  of  the  wonderful  effect  of  pointed 
bodies,  both  in  drawing  off  and  throwing  off  the  electrical  fire,"  4I 
adds  in  later  years  the  acknowledgment:42  "This  power  of 
points  to  throw  off the  electrical  fire,  was  first  communicated  to 
me  by  my  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  Thomas  Hopkinson,  since 
deceased,  whose  virtue  and  integrity,  in  every  station  of  life, 
public  and  private,  will  ever  make  his  memory  dear  to  those 
who  knew  him,  and  knew  how  to  value  him."  Mr.  Hopkinson 
died  in  Philadelphia  5  November,  1751.  Mr.  Sparks  says  of 
41  Bigelow,  ii.  66.  «  Ibid.  68, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       101 

him,  "  He  was  distinguished  for  his  classical  attainments,  gen- 
eral learning,  the  brilliancy  of  his  conversation,  and  his  fondness 
for  philosophical  studies."43 

But  we  must  record  the  testimony  of  his  friend  Franklin  to 
his  worth,  which  we  find  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  14 
November,  1751: 

Last  week  died  here  the  honourable  THOMAS  HOPKINSON,  Esq. ; 
Judge  of  the  Admiralty  for  this  Province,  one  of  the  Governor's  Council, 
and  Prothonotary  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  County  of  Phila- 
delphia, &c.  A  Gentleman  possessed  of  many  Virtues,  without  the  Alloy 
of  one  single  Vice  ;  and  distinguished  for  his  attachment  to  the  Cause  of 
Justice  and  Honesty  ;  which  he  practised  in  private  Life  with  a  scrupulous 
Exactness,  and  in  Publick  Affairs,  with  an  Intrepidity  and  Firmness  of 
mind  that  was  not  to  be  shaken  ;  an  excellent  Ingredient  in  his  character, 
where  a  quick  Conception,  a  clear  Discernment,  and  a  solid  Judgment,  were 
happily  United:  In  Matters  of  Truth  so  faithful,  that  the  nearest  Concerns 
of  his  own  Interest  had  not  a  greater  Share  of  his  Application.  His  Benevo- 
lence was  as  extensive  as  the  proper  Object  of  it,  the  whole  human  Race, 
but  his  great  Modesty,  and  his  not  seeking  to  be  known  caused  the  Num- 
ber of  his  intimate  Friends  to  be  but  small:  Among  those,  in  the  Hours  of 
Recreation,  he  had  the  particular  Faculty  of  tempering  the  Facetious  with 
the  Grave,  in  so  agreeable  a  Manner,  as  made  his  Conversation  both 
delightful  and  instructive.  He  was  reserved  in  Professions  of  Religion, 
but  the  Spirit  of  Christianity  actuated  the  whole  Conduct  of  his  Life.  Not 
conscious  of  any  Guilt  or  Neglect  of  any  Social  Duty,  he  beheld  the  slow 
Approaches  of  Death  with  an  amazing  cheerfulness,  without  any  Mixture  of 
Anxiety  or  Fear  ;  and  at  last  bid  adieu  to  the  world  with  all  the  Serenity  of 
Mind  that  could  flow  from  the  Wisdom  of  a  Philosopher  joined  to  the 
Innocence  of  a  Child. 

Mr.  Hopkinson  married  in  1736,  Mary,  daughter  of  Bald- 
win Johnson  of  Appoquinimink  Hundred,  Delaware.44  Of  their 
children,  Francis,  the  eldest,  we  will  learn  somewhat  of  later  as 
an  honored  alumnus  of  the  College  and  Academy  at  its  first  com- 
mencement, together  with  Jacob  Duche,  Jr.,  and  John  Morgan 
afterward  his  brother-in-law ;  Thomas  was  an  alumnus  of 
1766  and  afterward  entered  Holy  Orders,  dying  in  1784  with- 


43  Sparks,  vi.  87. 

44  Her  first  cousin,  Dr.  James  Johnson,  was  Canon-residentiary  of  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  and    was  in    1752    made    Bishop  of  Gloucester,  whence  in   1760  he  was 
translated  to  Worcester,  dying  in  1774. 


IO2       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

out  family;  Elizabeth  married  the  Rev.  Jacob  Duche;  and 
Mary  married  Dr.  John  Morgan,  who  in  1765  became  the 
first  medical  professor,  that  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Physics,  in  the  College  and  Academy,  and  consequently  the 
first  in  America. 

Mr.  Hopkinson  had  attended  but  ten  meetings  of  the 
Trustees  up  to  13  July,  1751,  and  his  death  made  the  first 
break  among  the  active  Trustees,  for  though  James  Logan  had 
died  but  a  few  days  before,  his  age  and  infirmities  precluded  his 
taking  any  active  part  in  the  proceedings.  At  the  meeting  of 
12  November,  1751,  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader  was  elected  to 
take  his  trust.  He  was  a  member  of  St.  John's  Lodge,  with 
Franklin,  in  1733,  was  elected  Junior  Grand  Warden  in  1734, 
Deputy  Grand  Master  in  1735,  and  Grand  Master  in  1736. 

WILLIAM  PLUMSTED  was  born  in  Philadelphia  7  November, 
1708,  the  son  of  Clement  Plumsted  the  Councillor,  a  native  of 
Norfolk,  England.  In  1724  young  Plumsted  was  taken  abroad 
by  his  father.  He  subsequently  became  a  partner  of  his  father  in 
business,  and  continued  the  establishment  after  his  death.  He 
became  a  Common  Councilman  in  1739.  He  was  made  Register 
General  of  Wills  for  the  Province  in  1745,  "although  it  was 
thought  remarkable  that  a  wealthy  man  would  take  it:"  this 
office  he  held  until  his  death,  and  on  30  May,  1752  was  commis- 
sioned a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  the  County  Courts.  Brought 
up  a  Friend,  about  middle  age  he  renounced  the  Society  and 
became  a  Churchman,  and  joined  in  the  petition  for  the  lot  on 
which  St.  Peter's  Church  was  erected  in  1760,  and  of  which  he 
became  the  first  Accounting  Warden.  He  was  three  times 
Mayor  of  Philadelphia,  viz.  :  in  1750,  1754,  and  1755  :  it  is 
said  he  spared  himself  the  public  entertainment  called  for 
from  the  retiring  Mayor  in  1750  by  donating  to  the  City  the  sum 
of  £75.  He  with  Chief  Justice  Allen  and  others  in  1755  con- 
tributed to  a  sum  which  was  to  represent  the  tax  properly  deriva- 
ble from  the  Proprietaries  estates,  at  the  time  the  Assembly  was 
refusing  to  pass  any  bill  for  raising  money  for  defence  of  the 
province  which  excused  the  Penns  from  contributing.  In  175 7 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       103 

he  was  a  member  of  Assembly  from  Northampton  County.  He 
died  10  August,  1765,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Church  Yard. 
All  that  now  can  certainly  be  deciphered  of  the  inscription  on  his 
tombstone  speaks  of  him  as  "  An  Eminent  Merchant.  An 
Alderman,  and  some  time  Mayor  of  Philadelphia,  Whose  public 
character  as  a  useful  Citizen  and  Magistrate  Let  his  country  tell." 
He  married  first  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Philip  Kearny  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  whose  sister  Mary  was  the  wife  of  Chief  Justice  John 
Kinsey.  She  died  in  1741,  and  he  married  secondly,  in  1753, 
Mary  daughter  of  George  M'Call,  the  sister  of  Samuel  M'Call 
junior,  his  fellow  Trustee.  His  daughter  Elizabeth,  by  the  first 
marriage,  married  Andrew  Elliott  who  was  elected  a  Trustee  of 
the  College  in  1762. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  14  August  records  this  obituary 
notice  of  him  : 

On  Sunday  .last  died  here,  after  a  short,  but  severe,  Illness,  Wil- 
liam Plumsted,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Aldermen  of  this  City  ;  and  the  next  Day 
was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Church  Burying  Ground,  in  the  plainest  Manner, 
at  his  own  Request,  according  to  the  new  Mode,  lately  used  in  Boston  and 
New  York,  having  no  Pall  over  his  Coffin,  nor  none  of  his  Relations  or 
Friends  appearing  in  Mourning.  We  flatter  ourselves,  that  this  frugal  and 
laudable  Example  of  burying  our  Dead,  so  seasonably  set  by  People  of 
Family  and  Fortune,  will  be  imitated  by  all,  both  in  City  and  Country  ; 
the  good  Effects  of  which  must  soon  be  felt,  especially  by  those  in  low 
Circumstances. 

Mr.  Plumsted  was  more  regular  in  his  attendance  at  the 
Trustees  meetings  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  service,  but  to  the 
last  he  evinced  his  interest  by  as  frequent  attendance  as  he  could 
give.  His  last  meeting  was  that  of  1 1  September,  1764.  At 
the  meeting  of  23  September,  1765,  Mr.  John  Lawrence  was 
elected  to  succeed  him.  He  was  a  member  of  St.  John's  Lodge, 
with  others  of  his  Fellow  Trustees,  in  1734,  was  Senior  Grand 
Warden  in  1735,  Deputy  Grand  Master  in  1736,  Grand  Master 
in  1737,  and  Grand  Treasurer  in  1755. 


IO4       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

JOSHUA  MADDOX  was  born  in  1685,  a  native  of  England. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Vestry  of  Christ  Church  for  many 
years,  at  intervals  from  1728  to  1746,  and  a  Warden,  1731-33  ; 
and  was  made  a  Justice  of  the  Orphans'  Court  I  March,  1741, 
commissioned  4  April  following  on  the  same  day  with  Robert 
Strettell,  a  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  6  October, 
1 747,  an  alderman  and  associate  justice  of  the  City  Court.  With 
his  associate  justices,  Thomas  Lawrence,  Edward  Shippen  and 
Benjamin  Franklin  (probably  the  latter's  first  hearing)  he  sat  in 
trial  of  a  case  in  June  Term,  1749  of  Lawrence  William  vs. 
William  Till,  of  unusual  magnitude  at  the  time  for  the  Common 
Pleas.  Mr  David  Paul  Brown  illustrates  this  in  the  following 
sentences  :45 

We  have  in  this  record  a  singular  exhibition  of  the  social  and  judicial 
system  of  the  province.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  large  influence  of 
Friends  in  the  civil  concerns  of  that  day,  it  seems  to  present  a  mixture  of 
the  times  of  the  patriarchal  government  with  that  of  the  reign  of  the  mer- 
chant princes,  and  that  of  the  highest  state  of  artificial  English  law.  We 
find  here  four  persons,  not  one  of  whom  was  ever  at  the  bar,  nor,  so  far  as 
we  know,  ever  professionally  educated,  seated  on  the  seat  of  judgment, 
hearing  an  important  case  of  commerce,  and  adjudging  it  by  rules  of  scien- 
tific common  law  jurisprudence  *  *  *  He  sat  from  March  1741  until 
his  death  in  April,  1759,  a  term  of  eighteen  years,  upon  the  seat  of  judg- 
ment, constantly  partaking  in  its  councils  and  attending  its  adjudications  ; 
and  when  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  four,  had  almost  become  personi- 
fied in  this  province  with  the  administration  of  its  local  justice. 

Mr.  Maddox  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  with 
success,  and  was  a  citizen  of  influence  and  honor.  His  education 
had  been  a  liberal  one,  and  his  library  in  its  choice  of  books 
showed  him  to  be  a  man  of  studious  and  contemplative  tastes. 
He  died  12  April,  1759.  His  wife  survived  him  many  years, 
dying  in  1783,  at  the  advanced  age  of  102  years,  as  is  told  on 
their  grave  stone  in  Christ  Church  Yard.  His  only  child,  Mary, 
married  John  Wallace,  of  Hope  Farm,  Somerset  County,  New 
Jersey,  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  was  mother  of  Hon.  Joshua 
Maddox  Wallace,  an  alumnus  of  the  College  in  1767. 

Mr  Maddox  was  a  frequent  attendant  on  the  meetings  of 

45  Fonun,  {.237-238. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         105 

the  Trustees;  the  last  he  attended  was  on  22  November,  1758. 
At  the  meeting  of  8  July,  1760,  Mr  Thomas  Willing  was  elected 
his  successor. 

THOMAS  WHITE  was  born  in  London  in  1704,  the  son  of 
William  White  of  London  and  Elizabeth  Leigh  his  wife  ;  his 
father  died  when  he  was  but  four  years  of  age,  and  in  1720  he 
came  to  America  as  apprentice  to  Mr.  Stokes  the  Clerk  of  the 
County  of  Baltimore  ;  he  eventually  became  his  deputy  and 
having  pursued  the  study  of  law  with  the  limited  means  then  at 
command  in  the  colonies,  he  practiced  it  at  the  Maryland  bar. 
He  became  deputy  surveyor  of  the  province  for  the  then  County 
of  Baltimore,  which  includes  what  we  now  know  as  Harford 
County  created  in  1773,  and  gradually  acquired  lands  and  was 
fortunate  in  developing  them  to  the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  the 
great  staple  of  the  day,  and  was  successful  in  producing  bar 
iron  from  the  ores  found  on  his  estates,  thus  becoming  one  of 
the  earliest  iron  producers  in  the  colonies.  He  married  Sophia, 
daughter  of  John  Hall  of  Cranbury,  of  one  of  the  oldest  settled 
families  in  Baltimore  County;  but  when  he  was  left  a  widower  in 
1742  with  three  young  daughters,  he  was  in  a  few  years  induced 
to  make  his  residence  in  Philadelphia  not  alone  for  their  better 
education  but  as  well  also  to  increase  his  business  connections, 
for  when  settled  in  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  colonies,  he 
could  more  readily  export  the  produce  of  his  plantations  and 
make  importations  in  exchange  therefor.  He  attained  the  rank 
of  Colonel  in  the  provincial  militia,  and  bore  this  title  to  his 
new  home.  He  must  early  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  Franklin 
in  establishing  himself  in  Philadelphia,  through  a  common 
friend  Richard  Peters,  who  as  Secretary  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Council  must  have  often  encountered  the  Maryland  Surveyor  in 
the  boundary  controversies  between  the  Penns  and  Calverts. 
He  was  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven  made  a  Vestryman  of 
old  St.  George's,  Spesutiae,  now  in  Harford  County,  his  attach- 
ment to  the  Church  of  England  being  drawn  from  the  traditions 
of  several  ancestral  generations  who  leaned  rather  to  the  House 
of  Stuart,  and  when  he  came  to  Philadelphia  he  at  once  attached 


106        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

himself  to  Christ  Church.  He  resigned  his  Trusteeship  in  the 
Academy  and  College  in  1772  owing  to  increasing  infirmities, 
but  his  young  son  was  two  years  later  elected  a  Trustee.  He  was 
one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Peace  in  1752,  and  on  30  May  the 
same  year  was  commissioned  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  the  County 
Courts  of  Philadelphia.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  colonies  in 
their  struggles  against  the  parliament,  and  perhaps  his  Jacobite 
traditions  made  it  the  more  easy  for  him  to  seek  a  severance 
from  a  King  of  the  House  of  Hanover ;  but  an  accident  which 
had  befallen  him  in  1757  forbade  participation  in  any  political  or 
military  movements  of  the  time.  When  writing  to  his  London 
correspondents,  Messrs.  David  Barclay  &  Sons,  1 1  November, 
1765,  in  ordering  some  articles,  he  adds,  "  But  not  if  the  Stamp 
Act  be  unrepealed."  On  one  of  his  stated  visits  to  Maryland 
he  died,  after  a  short  illness,  at  his  daughter's  house  at  the 
head  of  Bush  River,  on  29  September,  1779,  and  his  remains 
now  lie  in  the  old  St.  George's  burying  ground. 

He  married  secondly,  Esther,  daughter  of  Abraham  Hew- 
lings  of  Burlington,  N.  J.,  of  a  family  which  early  in  the  colony 
were  Friends,  but  who  became  followers  of  George  Keith  and 
returned  to  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  by  her  he  had  a  son 
William,  whom  he  lived  to  see  Rector  of  the  united  Churches 
of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's,  but  did  not  live  to  see  him 
wearing  the  Mitre ;  and  Mary,  who  became  the  wife  of  Robert 
Morris  the  Financier,  a  Trustee  of  the  College  from  1778  to 
1791.  His  eminent  son  records  of  him, 

He  was  indulgent  to  his  Family  in  all  their  reasonable  Desires  and 
was  attentive  to  the  keeping  of  a  plentiful  and  hospitable  Table.  Among 
his  many  good  Qualities,  was  strict  Temperance  and  scrupulous  Integrity. 
Perhaps  no  Man  ever  lived  and  died  with  a  more  unreserved  acknowledg- 
ment of  these  properties  of  character. 

His  oldest  grandson,  Thomas  Hall,  a  graduate  of  the 
Academy  and  College  in  1768,  while  reading  law  in  Philadel- 
phia served  for  the  following  year  as  tutor  in  his  Alma  Mater. 

Coi.  White's  attendance  with  the  Trustees  at  their  meetings 
was  very  regular  and  would  have  been  almost  without  inter- 
mission but  for  his  absences  from  the  city.  The  last  time  he 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       107 

attended  was  that  of  30  May,  1769  ;  and  on  19  May,  1772,  he 
wrote  the  Trustees  : 

As  it  is  not  any  longer  convenient  for  me  to  give  that  attendance  at 
your  Meetings  which  the  Duty  of  a  Trustee  requires,  I  would  request  you 
to  accept  my  Resignation,  which  I  do  not  make  out  of  any  Disregard  to  the 
Institution,  the  Prosperity  of  which  I  shall  always  wish  ;  but  because  my 
continuing  longer  in  the  office  of  a  Trustee  prevents  you  from  having  some 
more  useful  and  active  member. 

And  at  the  meeting  of  25  May  following  : 

The  Hon'ble  Richard  Penn,  Esqr. ,  the  present  Governor  of  the 
Province,  is  unanimously  elected  a  Trustee  in  the  Room  of  Col.  White  who 
has  lately  resigned  ;  and  Dr.  Peters,  Mr.  Inglis,  and  the  Provost  are 
desired  to  wait  upon  his  Honor,  and  request  his  acceptance  of  a  share  in 
the  Trust  and  Direction  of  this  Institution. 

WILLIAM  COLEMAN,  of  whom  Franklin  so  tenderly  speaks 
when  reciting46  the  names  of  his  friends  of  the  Junto,  as  hav- 
ing "  the  coolest,  clearest  head,  the  best  heart,  and  the  exactest 
morals,  of  almost  any  man  I  ever  met  with,"  was  born  in  1/04, 
the  son  of  William  Coleman.  "  Our  friendship,"  he  says,  "con- 
tinued without  interruption  to  his  death,  upwards  of  forty  years." 
The  meagre  information  we  have  of  him  does  not  satisfy  our 
desires  to  know  more  of  the  man  of  whom  Franklin  gives  such 
a  testimony.  He  early  attained  eminence  as  a  faithful  citizen 
and  a  successful  merchant.  He  was  a  Common  Councilman  in 
I739»  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the  City  Court,  18  September, 
1 747,  and  on  30  June,  1 749,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  of  the  County 
Courts  of  Philadelphia  together  with  Thomas  Lawrence,  Abram 
Taylor,  Robert  Strettell,  Joseph  Turner,  Thomas  Hopkin- 
son,  William  Allen,  Joshua  Maddox,  Charles  Willing,  and  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  with  whom  he  was  to  be  a  co-trustee  of  the  new 
Academy  organized  before  the  close  of  that  year.  He  was  again 
commissioned  25  May,  1752,  others  of  the  Trustees  then  being 
included,  William  Plumsted,  Thomas  White,  and  John  Mifflin. 
On  27  November,  1757,  he  was  made  Presiding  Justice  of  the 
Court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  and  on  8  April,  1758,  an  associate 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province,  to  which  he  was 

46  Bigelow,  i.  143. 


loS       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

re-commissioned  in  1761  and  again  in  1764.  He  was  the  first 
clerk  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  resigning  in  1755,  and  its 
first  Treasurer,  resigning  this  office  in  1764  being  succeeded 
by  Edward  Shippen,  jr.  The  last  meeting  of  the  Trustees  he 
attended — and  no  one  was  more  constant  in  attendance  than  he 
— was  on  10  July,  1764;  and  on  21  February,  1769,  John 
Allen,  Esquire,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  His  death  occurred 
i  i  January,  1769,  and  on  19  January  following,  we  find  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Gazette  this  obituary  notice  of  him  : 

On  Wednesday,  the  Eleventh  instant,  died  at  the  age  of  64,  The 
Honourable  William  Coleman,  Esq.,  an  Assistant  Judge  of  our  Supreme 
Court.  He  was  always  esteemed  a  valuable  and  useful  citizen,  and  a 
Gentleman  of  great  good  sense,  and  unblemished  Virtue.  Tho'  much 
pleased  with  Study  and  Retirement,  he  possessed  many  social  Virtues,  and 
was  ever  fond  of  those  Subjects  which  were  most  likely  to  render  him 
serviceable  to  his  Neighbor.  He  was  an  able  and  an  upright  Judge,  and 
in  that  character  gave  the  greatest  Satisfaction  to  his  Country.  And  we 
may  say,  with  much  Reason,  that  this  Province  has  few  such  Men,  and 
that  few  Men  will  be  so  much  missed  as  Mr.  Coleman.  47 

He  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  George  Fitzwater,  whom 
he  survived  and  without  children.  By  his  will  he  freed  his 
slaves,  and  including  his  Books  and  Mathematical  Instruments, 
he  left  his  residuary  estate,  which  was  rich  in  realty,  to  his  wife's 
favorite  nephew,  George  Clymer,  the  Signer,  who  had  been  left 
an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  and  whose  care  had  devolved  upon 
William  Coleman  and  his  wife.  Judge  Coleman  superintended 
young  Clymer's  education,  and  with  his  cultivated  mind  instilled 
into  him  a  love  of  reading,  which  better  fitted  him  for  his  later 
political  duties.  George  Clymer  became  a  Trustee  of  the  Col- 
lege and  Academy  in  1779. 


47  • '  Upon  the  whole  I  proposed  to  them  to  leave  the  matter  to  Reference, 
which  was  accordingly  done  by  mutual  consent  to  a  very  honest  judicious  man,  Mr. 
William  Coleman,  a  merchant  of  the  place,"  Chief  Justice  Allen,  5  November, 
1753.  And  again  in  a  later  letter  to  David  and  John  Barclay  of  London  he  speaks  of 
him  as  "  Our  Mutual  Friend."  The  Burd  Papers,  1897,  pp.  9  and  75. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       109 
XI. 

The  first  action  the  now  organized  Board  of  Trustees  took 
was  in  the  direction  of  securing  a  habitation  for  the  new  school, 
before  entering  upon  any  general  plan  of  tuition ;  and  to  this 
end  their  thoughts  turned  to  the  New  Building,  as  it  was  called, 
on  Fourth  Street  near  Arch  which  had  been  built  nine  years 
before  for  Whitefield's  impressive  ministrations,  and  which  now 
could,  it  was  thought,  be  had  on  advantageous  terms,  and  as  an 
investment  would  prove  useful  and  also  give  an  evidence  to  the 
community  of  the  sincerity  of  the  design  the  Trustees  were  now 
formulating. 

Upon  the  appointment  of  the  officers,  the  Minutes  next 
record  : 

Messrs.  William  Allen,  Abraham  Taylor,  Charles  Willing,  Richard 
Peters,  Thomas  Leech,  and  William  Shippen  are  requested  to  treat  with 
the  Trustees  of  the  New  Building,  about  taking  a  part  of  it  for  an  Academy, 
and  report  the  Terms  on  which  it  may  be  had  at  the  next  meeting.  And 
are  further  requested  to  treat  with  Workmen,  on  the  expence  of  erecting 
what  is  necessary  for  that  Purpose.  l 

This  Committee  reported  at  the  next  meeting,  namely  26 
December,  1749,  when  all  the  members  were  present  except 
Messrs.  Shippen,  Hopkinson,  and  Zachary.  The  proposals  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  Lot  of  Ground  whereon  the  House  com- 
monly called  the  New  Building  is  erected  for  conveying  the 
said  Lot  and  House  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  for  the 
uses  in  those  proposals  mentioned,  were  read  and  agreed  ta 
Nemine  conlradicente,  and  the  offer  by  Mr.  Logan  of  his  lot  on 
Sixth  St.,  before  referred  to,  was  courteously  declined,  and  the 
President  requested  to  acquaint  him  with  this  result. 

This  building  has  a  place  in  local  history  of  great  promi- 
nence, and  a  recital  of  its  beginnings  and  consummation  will  be 
interesting.  On  a  previous  page  it  was  noted  how  Whitefield's 


1  Between  these  first  two  meetings  of  the  Board  Franklin's  friend  Godfrey 
had  died,  and  he  thus  notices  his  death  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  19  December, 
1749:  "  Last  week  died  here  Mr.  THOMAS  GODFRKV,  who  had  an  uncommon  Genius 
for  all  kinds  of  Mathematical  Learning,  with  which  he  was  extremely  well 
acquainted.  He  invented  the  New  Reflecting  Quadrant  used  in  Navigation." 


no       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

great  Discourses  drew  extraordinaiy  audiences  to  hear  them  and 
see  him,  and  of  the  necessity  for  a  place  suitable  in  size  for  their 
accommodation  ;  for  although  his  cure  was  in  Savannah  where 
he  had  made  for  himself  a  double  duty  in  building  up  also  an 
Orphanage,  yet  Philadelphia  was  the  pivotal  point  of  his  great 
missionary  tours,  and  this  influential  community  drew  more  of 
his  attention  and  labors  than  any  other  in  the  colonies  outside 
of  Savannah.  As  his  adherents  were  not  drawn  from  the  upper 
classes,  who  merely  tolerated  if  they  did  not  oppose  him,  we 
find  that  the  four  of  the  former  who  took  title  in  trust  to  the 
property  on  Fourth  Street,  were  Edmund  Woolly,  carpenter, 
John  Coats,  brickmaker,  John  Howell,  mariner,  and  William 
Price,  carpenter.  The  purchase  was  made  15  September,  1740, 
from  Jonathan  Price  and  Wife,  of  the  lot  of  ground,  one  hundred 
feet  below  Arch  Street,  with  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  on  Fourth,  opposite  the  old  Friends  Burying  Ground, 
extending  westward  in  depth  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  feet 
to  the  Burying  Ground  of  Christ  Church,  which  had  been 
opened  in  1719.  On  14  November  following  these  four  made 
assignment  of  the  property  in  trust  to  Rev.  Mr.  George  White- 
field,  of  the  province  of  Georgia,  Clerk ;  William  Seward,  of 
London,  Esquire  ;  John  Stephen  Benezet,  of  Philadelphia,  Mer- 
chant; Thomas  Noble,  of  New  York,  Merchant;  Samuel 
Hazard,  of  New  York,  Merchant ;  Robert  Eastburn,  of  Phila- 
delphia, Blacksmith;  James  Read,  of  Philadelphia,  Gentleman; 
Edward  Evans,  of  Philadelphia,  Cordwainer  ;  and  Charles 
Brockden,  of  Philadelphia,  Gentleman ;  for  the  purposes  as 
expressed  in  the  following  Preamble : 

Whereas,  a  considerable  number  of  Persons  of  different  denomina- 
tions in  Religion  had  united  their  endeavours  to  erect  a  large  building  upon 
the  land  above  described  intending  that  the  same  should  be  appointed  to 
the  use  of  a  Charity  School  for  the  instruction  of  poor  children  gratis  in 
useful  literature  and  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  also  that  the  same  should 
be  used  as  a  House  of  Publick  Worship.  And  that  it  was  agreed  that  the 
use  of  the  said  Building  should  be  under  the  direction  of  certain  Trustees 
*  *  *  which  Trustees  before  named  and  thereafter  to  be  chosen  were 
from  time  to  time  to  appoint  fit  and  able  school  masters  and  school  mis- 
tresses for  the  service  of  the  said  school  and  introduce  such  Protestant 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       1 1 1 

Ministers  to  Preach  the  Gospel  in  the  said  house  as  they  should  judge  to  be 
sound  in  their  Principles,  zealous  and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  their  duty 
and  acquainted  with  the  Religion  of  the  Heart  and  experimental  piety 
without  any  regard  to  those  distinctions  or  different  sentiments  in  lesser 
matters  which  have  to  the  scandal  of  religion  unhappily  divided  real 
Christians. 

The  building,  elsewhere  described,  was  erected  about  mid- 
way of  the  lot  facing  eastward,  and  though  but  partially  com- 
pleted, even  before  the  roof  was  completed,  Whitefield  had 
gathered  his  first  congregation  in  it  five  days  before  the  convey- 
ance. Franklin  gave  a  very  liberal  construction  to  this  liberty 
of  preaching,  in  writing  of  it  in  after  years,  for  he  describes  the 
"  design  in  building  not  being  to  accommodate  any  particular 
sect,  but  the  inhabitants  in  general ;  so  that  even  if  the  Mufti  of 
Constantinople  were  to  send  a  missionary  to  preach  Moham- 
medanism to  us,  he  would  find  a  pulpit  at  his  service;"  2  but 
Whitefield  and  Tennent  would  hardly  have  extended  their 
liberality  to  even  a  Mufti. 

Franklin  referring  again  to  the  New  Building  and  the  obli- 
gations resting  on  the  property,  which  latter  formed  the  occasion 
for  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  to  consider  the  expediency  of 
securing  it,  writes  : 

The  enthusiasm  which  existed  when  the  house  was  built  had  long 
since  abated,  and  its  trustees  had  not  been  able  to  procure  fresh  contribu- 
tions for  paying  the  ground  rent,  and  discharging  some  other  debts  the 
building  had  occasion' d,  which  embarrass' d  them  greatly.*  Of  the  four 
original  trustees,  one  of  each  sect  was  appointed,  viz  :  Church  of  England 
man,  one  Presbyterian,  one  Baptist,  one  Moravian,  who  in  case  of  vacancy 
by  death,  were  to  fill  it  by  election  from  among  the  contributors.  The  Mora- 
vian happened  not  to  please  his  colleagues,  and  on  his  death  they  resolved 
to  have  no  other  of  that  sect.  The  difficulty  then  was,  how  to  avoid  hav- 
ing two  of  some  other  sect,  by  means  of  the  new  choice.  Several  persons 
were  named,  and  for  that  reason  not  agreed  to.  At  length  one  mentioned 
me,  with  the  observation  that  I  was  merely  an  honest  man,  and  of  no  sect 
at  all,  which  prevailed  with  them  to  choose  me.  *  *  *  Being  now  a 
member  of  both  boards  of  trustees,  that  for  the  building,  and  that  for  the 
academy,  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of  negotiating  with  both,  and  brought 
them  finally  to  an  agreement,  by  which  the  trustees  for  the  building 

2  Bigelow,  i.  207.  8  Ibid.  i.  226. 


H2       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

were  to  cede  it  to  those  of  the  academy  ;  the  latter  undertaking  to  dis- 
charge the  debt,  to  keep  for  ever  open  in  the  building  a  large  hall  for 
occasional  preachers,  according  to  the  original  intention,  and  maintain  a 
free  school  for  the  instruction  of  poor  children.  Writings  were  accord- 
ingly drawn  ;  and,  on  paying  the  debts,  the  trustees  of  the  academy  were 
put  in  possession  of  the  premises  ;  and,  by  dividing  the  great  and  lofty  hall 
into  stories,  and  different  rooms  above  and  below  for  the  several  schools,  and 
purchasing  some  additional  ground,  the  whole  was  soon  made  fit  for  our 
purpose,  and  the  scholars  removed  into  the  building.  The  whole  care  and 
trouble  of  agreeing  with  the  workmen,  purchasing  materials,  and  superin- 
tending the  work,  fell  upon  me  ;  and  I  went  through  it  the  more  cheerfully, 
as  it  did  not  then  interfere  with  my  private  business. 

The  question  of  an  earlier  date  for  the  foundation  of  the 
University  is  said  to  arise  from  the  purchase  by  the  Trustees  in 
1749  of  this  incomplete  building,  which  was  erected  by  subscrip- 
tions procured  in  good  faith  in  preceding  years  for  the  main- 
tenance therein  of  a  certain  religious  preaching  as  well  also  of  a 
Charity  School ;  and  a  gain  of  nine  years  in  the  University  exist- 
ence is  thus  affirmed,  inasmuch  as  the  former  enterprise  was 
projected  in  1740,  and  the  building  then  shortly  begun  was 
designed  to  further  these  two  objects.  The  first  public  claim  in 
our  own  day  of  this  earlier  date  is  sanctioned  by  its  publication  in 
the  University  Catalogue  of  1893-4.  The  year  in  which  free 
preaching  and  a  free  school  were  thus  projected,  need  not  here 
be  considered,  particularly  as  the  operations  of  the  latter  feature, 
a  free  school,  were  not  consummated  for  ten  years  and  more  after, 
and  then  only  under  the  efforts  of  the  assignees,  though  the 
preaching  privilege  was  at  once  exercised — even  before  the 
roof  was  on.  The  Academy  Trustees  in  thus  taking  title  to  the 
premises  obligated  themselves  "  to  discharge  the  debt,  to  keep 
for  ever  open  in  the  building  a  large  hall  for  occasional  preachers 
*  *  *  and  maintain  a  free  school  for  the  instruction  of  poor 
children."  The  trustees  of  1740  having  erected  the  build- 
ing by  subscriptions  gathered  upon  these  pledges,  could  not  but 
seek  from  their  assignees  the  condition  that  these  objects  be 
carried  out  in  due  time,  which  the  Academy  Trustees  were  in  no 
wise  loth  to  do,  as  these  would  not  only  prove  attractions  to 
the  new  movement  but  give  them  speedy  possession  of  the 
needed  edifice  ;  and  they,  in  continuing  good  faith  to  the  original 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       113 

subscribers,  under  this  assignment,  eventually  started  and  main- 
tained the  free  school  as  one  of  the  prominent  features  of  their 
scheme  of  education,  although  some  delay  prevented  their  con- 
summation of  this  until  as  late  as  September,  1751.  Dr  Peters 
in  his  Sermon  on  Education  Wherein  Some  Account  is  given  of 
tJie  Academy,  Preach' d  at  the  Opening  thereof,  7  January,  1750— 
5  i ,  says  : 

It  became  a  matter  of  debate  where  to  place  the  Academy,  and  many 
arguments  were  offered  for  some  village  in  the  country  as  best  favouring  the 
morals  of  the  youth  *  *  *  but  when  it  came  to  be  considered  that  it 
would  take  a  large  sum  to  erect  proper  buildings  at  a  distance  from  the  city, 
that  the  circumstances  of  many  of  the  citizens  would  not  admit  of  a  distant 
place  on  account  of  the  expense,  that  the  trustees  were  men  of  business 
who  could  not  be  absent  from  their  habitations  without  much  inconve- 
nience, *  *  *  *  it  was  thought  proper  to  fix  it  somewhere  within  the 
city  ;  and  the  more  so,  when  the  minds  of  the  trustees  of  the  building, 
where  we  are  now  assembled,  came  to  be  imparted.  These  thoughtful 
persons  had  been  for;  some  years  sensible  that  this  building  was  not  put 
to  its  original  use,  nor  was  it  in  their  power  to  set  forward  a  charity  school, 
which  was  also  a  part  of  the  first  design,  and  that  it  was  more  in  the  power 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Academy  than  in  others  to  do  it ;  they  therefore  made 
an  offer  to  transfer  their  right  in  it  to  the  use  of  the  Academy  ;  provided 
the  debts  which  remained  unpaid,  might  be  discharged  and  the  arrears  of 
rent  paid  off.  This  was  thankfully  accepted,  and  a  conveyance  was 
executed . 

The  Trustees  had  thus  taken  over  an  encumbered  and 
incomplete  building  from  an  insolvent  association,  which  had 
also  failed  in  its  free  schooling  project,  obligating  them- 
selves in  part  consideration  to  carry  forward  its  free  preaching 
and  educational  features.  Had  they  accepted  Mr.  Logan's 
offer  of  his  Sixth  street  lot,  and  utilized  it  by  building  thereon, 
no  thought  would  have  arisen  for  antedating  their  own  creation 
of  1749.  They  accepted  the  tender  of  the  Fourth  street  prem- 
ises, even  in  its  incompletenesss,  not  only  for  greater  convenience 
in  location,  but  also  to  spare  them  the  further  loss  of  time 
which  the  erection  of  a  building  on  the  Logan  lot  would  have 
entailed  ;  but  they  did  not,  indeed  could  not,  assume  that  by 
takingtitle  thereto  on  I  February,  1750,  with  what  may  be  enti- 
tled its  philanthropic  liens,  they  would  thus  add  more  years  to 


H4       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

their  associated  life.  The  thought  of  an  earlier  date  than  1 749  for 
their  beginnings  was  never  entertained  by  them  or  by  the  five 
generations  succeeding,  and  only  recently  arose  to  exercise 
the  pleasing  thought  of  a  more  extended  existence  by  the  term 
of  nine  years. 

Neither  Dr.  Peters  nor  any  of  his  associates  could  have 
entertained  such  a  thought,  for  in  the  paragraph  of  the  Sermon 
immediately  preceding  the  one  above  quoted,  he  records  the 
birth,  which  met  with  no  contradiction  by  any  cotemporary, 
as  of  1 749,  as  follows  : 

Nor  should  it  be  concealed,  that  this  present  institution,  tho'  one  of 
those  kind  which  generally  have  for  their  Founders,  sovereign  Princes,  or 
branches  of  Royal  Families,  or  Nobles  of  the  first  rank  and  dignity, 
owes  likewise  its  being  to  a  sett  of  private  Men,  who  from  the  Neces- 
sity of  such  a  Seminary  of  learning  set  themselves  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
seriously  to  think  about  one  *  *  *  At  last  they  agreed  on  the  general 
heads  and  confident  of  the  continuance  of  the  publick  spirit  of  their  fellow 
citizens,  they  ventured  to  publish  their  Proposals  relating  to  the  education 
of  youth  in  this  province.  *  *  *  After  these  were  found  to  give  gen- 
eral satisfaction,  twenty-four  Trustees,  without  regard  to  differences  in 
religious  persuasions,  were  appointed  to  carry  them  into  execution  :  Mer- 
chants, Artificers,  some  likewise  of  the  learned  professions.  *  *  * 
Thus  successful,  it  became  a  matter  of  debate  where  to  place  the  Academy, 
&c.,  &c.,  &c. 

In  announcing  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  2  August, 
1750,  the  contribution  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  Franklin 
speaks  of  this  as 

for  the  encouragement  and  support  of  the  Academy  and  of  the  Charity 
School  which  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  have  likewise  undertaken  to 
open  in  this  city,  for  instructing  poor  children,  &c.,  &c. 

Dr  Smith  wrote  in  June,  1753  : 

A  few  private  Gentlemen  of  this  city  have  in  the  Space  of  two  or  three 
years,  projected,  begun,  and  carried  to  surprising  Perfection,  a  very  noble 
Institution,  &c.,  &c. 

And  in  his  Eulogium  on  Franklin  in  1791  : 

the  next  institution  in  the  foundation  of  which  he  was  the  principal 
agent,  was  the  academy  and  charitable  school  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia  ; 
the  plan  of  which  he  drew  up  and  published  in  the  year  1749. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         115 

Indeed  in  his  more  formal  statement  to  the  Assembly  in 
1788,  made  in  his  Address  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  the  case  of  the  violated  charter  of  the  College,  &c.,  of 
Pennsylvania,  presented  to  the  Assembly  12  March,  1788,  he 
recites  : 

The  College  of  Philadelphia  was  a  private  corporation  similar  to  the 
Exeter  College  in  Oxford  ;  it  had  its  foundation  in  the  year  1749,  from  pro- 
posals made  and  published  by  that  great  friend  of  learning,  DR  FRANKLIN, 
with  whom  were  associated  the  following  gentlemen,  *  *  *  twenty- 
four  in  the  whole  ;  and  their  chief  funds  were  of  their  own  private  subscrip- 
tions for  a  number  of  years,  aided  by  the  voluntary  benevolence  of  many 
of  their  fellow  citizens  ;  it  was  first  stiled  an  Academy  ;  and  before  it  had 
a  charter,  was  governed  by  certain  fundamental  constitutions  agreed  upon 
by  the  gentlemen  above  named  as  a  voluntary  society  of  founders. 

Robert  Proud,  when  writing  his  History  a  few  years  later, 
recorded  the  same  date  for  the  beginning  of  the  institution.  This 
date  was  also  maintained  by  the  late  Provost  Stille  in  his 
Memoir  of  the  Rev.  William  Smith,  D.D.,  1869,  "my  great 
predecessor."  This  was,  further,  officially  held  down  to  the 
printed  Catalogue  of  the  University  for  1892—3,  where  the  nar- 
rative reads  : 

A  pamphlet  called  Proposals  Relative  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in 
Pennsylvania  written  in  1749  by  DR  FRANKLIN,  led  to  an  association  by 
certain  citizens  of  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  School  on  the 
lines  suggested  by  that  wise  counsellor. 

This  was  confirmed  in  the  Biographical  Catalogue  of  the 
Matriculates  of  the  College,  1749-1893,  published  in  1894  by 
the  Society  of  the  Alumni.  The  General  Catalogue  of  the 
Officers  and  Graduates  of  the  Department  of  Arts,  published  in 
1849,  also  by  the  Society  of  the  Alumni,  had  recited  "from  1749 
to  1849."  But  in  the  Catalogue  for  1893-4  appears  the  earlier 
birth-date  in  the  Historical  Sketch,  viz.: 

A  pamphlet  called  Proposals  Relative  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in 
Pennsylvania,  written  in  1749  by  DR  FRANKLIN,  led  to  an  association  by 
certain  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  to  the  dignity  of 
an  Academy  the  Charitable  School  which  had  been  established  in  1740, 
and  which  was  then  struggling  under  a  debt  upon  the  building  erected  for 
its  use  and  the  accommodation  of  the  celebrated  preacher  Whitefield. 

And  for  the  first  time  the  cover  of  this  Catalogue  bore  the  legend, 


116        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  claimed  the  earlier  date,  "Founded  1740"  ; — for  which  there 
appears  no  warrant  in  the  long  and  unbroken  Annals  of 
the  University.  It  is  certain  that  Franklin  and  Peters  had 
themselves  no  thought  of  their  building  in  1749  "upon  another 
man's  foundation." 

On  the  first  of  February,  1750,  the  "Trustees  of  the 
Academy  met  at  Roberts's  Coffee  House,  except  James  Logan* 
Tench  Francis,  and  Thomas  Hopkinson,  Esquires;"  when  "the 
Trustees  of  the  New  Building  being  present,  joined  in  directing 
Edmund  Woolly  and  John  Coats  to  convey,  and  they  accord- 
ingly did  convey  the  said  Building  Lot  of  ground  and  Appurte- 
nances to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  Seven  hundred  seventy  and  five  pounds  eighteen  shillings 
and  eleven  pence  and  three  farthings  to  them  in  hand  then  paid 
by  the  Treasurer  for  order  of  the  Trustees  for  discharging  the 
debts  and  incumbrances  of  the  said  Building."  And  to  meet 
this  purchase  the  Trustees  "  agreed  unanimously  to  borrow 
Eight  hundred  pounds  of  the  Treasurers  of  the  Lottery,  which 
was  accordingly  done  and  bond  given  by  all  the  Trustees  for 
repayment  of  the  same  with  interest ;  which  is  to  be  done  out 
of  the  Stock  of  the  Academy,  as  it  shall  arise." 

This  conveyance  of  I  February,  1750,  recites  the  death  of 
Howell  and  Price,  the  associates  of  Woolly  and  Coats ;  and 
that  William  Seward  and  Thomas  Noble  being  since  deceased, 
the  survivors  of  the  Cestui  que  trust  or  a  majority  of  them, 
namely,  Benezet,  Hazard,  Eastburn,  Read  and  Evans  agree  to 
Woolly  and  Coats  assignment  and  sale.  This  conditioned  that 
the  Trustees  should  place,  erect,  found,  establish,  or  keep  a  house  or  place 
of  public  worship,  and  also  one  free  school  for  the  instructing  teaching 
and  education  of  poor  children  or  scholars  within  two  years  from  the  date 
of  the  conveyance  ;  and  likewise  from  time  to  time  introduce  such  preacher 
or  preachers  whom  they  shall  judge  qualified  as  recited  in  the  former 
indenture  is  expressed  to  preach  and  teach  the  word  of  God  occasionally 
in  the  said  place  of  publick  worship  but  yet  so  that  no  particular  sect  be 
fixed  there  as  a  settled  congregation  and  shall  at  all  reasonable  times  per- 
mit and  suffer  in  his  reasonable  turn  any  regular  Minister  of  the  Gospel  to 
preach  in  the  House  or  place  on  the  premises  which  shall  be  set  apart  for 
Publick  Worship  who  hath  signed  or  hereafter  shall  sign  certain  articles  of 
religion  a  copy  whereof  is  hereto  annexed  and  whom  they  shall  moreover 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         117 

judge  to  be  otherwise  duly  qualified  as  aforesaid  and  particularly  shall  per- 
mit the  free  and  uninterrupted  use  of  the  said  Place  of  Worship  to  the  said 
Revd.  Mr  George  Whitefield  whenever  he  shall  happen  to  be  in  this  city 
and  desire  to  preach  therein. 

A  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  held  the  following  day  to 
remove  the  alarm  which  some  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Tennent's  friends 
raised,  fearing  that  they  might  be  forbidden  the  use  of  the  New 
Building  for  his  ministrations. 

It  being  represented  to  the  Trustees  that  previous  to  the  conveyance 
of  the  New  Building  to  them,  Expectations  were  given  to  the  Revd.  Mr. 
Gilbert  Tennent  and  his  congregation  that  they  should  be  permitted  with- 
out interruption  to  continue  the  exercise  of  Divine  Service  on  the  Lord's 
Day  in  that  part  of  the  New  Building  that  shall  be  set  off  for  public  wor- 
ship until  they  shall  be  provided  with  an  House  of  their  own  for  that  pur- 
pose which  they  are  now  about  to  erect  with  all  convenient  expedition. 
The  Trustees  esteeming  the  said  Mr  Tennent  to  be  duly  qualified  accord- 
ing to  the  deed  of  Trust,  and  considering  that  the  said  Congregation  is  at 
present  without  a  Meeting  House,  do  concede  and  grant  to  him  and  them 
the  free  and  uninterrupted  use  of  the  said  Place  of  Worship  on  the  Lord's 
Day  and  other  stated  times  of  Meeting,  free  of  Rent  (excepting  only  when 
the  Revd.  Mr.  Whitefield  shall  be  present  and  desire  to  use  the  same)  from 
this  time  until  their  intended  New  Meeting  House  shall  be  fit  to  accommo- 
date them,  provided  the  same  be  ready  to  receive  them  within  three  years 
now  next  ensuing.  [And  under  directions],  a  copy  of  the  same  was  accord- 
ingly made  and  signed  by  the  President  by  order  of  the  Trustees  and 
delivered  to  Mr.  Samuel  Hazard  for  Mr  Tennent. 

This  was  the  congregation  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  who  were  then  building  their  large  edifice  on  the  North 
West  corner  of  Arch  and  Third  Streets,  which  however  was 
not  completed  for  their  use  until  May,  1752. 

The  "  certain  articles  of  religion,  a  copy  whereof  is  hereto 
annexed,"  above  referred  to,  could  be  justly  named  the  White- 
field  Confession  of  Faith,  and  are  duly  recorded  at  length  in 
Deed  Book  Letter  A,  No.  5,  page  1 68,  the  only  instance  known 
of  the  Recorder  of  Deeds  finding  room  in  his  volumes  for  the 
entry  of  a  creed.  The  final  sentence  alone  need  be  quoted 
here,  as  epitomizing  its  chief  articles  : 

We  do  also  give  our  assent  and  consent  to  the  9th,  loth,  nth,  I2th, 
1 3th  and  I7th  articles  of  the  Church  of  England  as  explained  by  the 
Calvinists  in  their  Litteral  and  grammatical  sence  without  any  equivocation 


n8        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

whatsoever.  We  mention  these  in  particular  because  they  are  a  summary 
of  the  foregoing  articles.  We  believe  all  that  are  sound  in  faith  agree  in 
these  whatever  other  points  they  may  differ  in. 

This  Deed  and  the  Articles  of  I  February  were  made  the 
subject  of  an  entry  in  the  Minutes  of  25  June,  1/50,  namely, 
"  Ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  pay  to  John  Moland,  Esqr., 
Twenty  Pounds  for  his  services  in  framing  the  conveyance  of 
the  New  Building  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy." 

The  Trustees  individually  subscribed,  as  we  have  seen,  for 
a  term  of  three  years  sums  aggregating  annually  Three  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-three  pounds,  saving  the  aged  Logan,  whose 
tender  of  a  lot  of  ground  probably  took  the  place  of  a  cash 
subscription.  William  Allen's  subscription  was  the  largest, 
amounting  to  .£75.  annually;  the  next  in  amount  were  those  of 
Masters,  Zachary,  and  Turner,  for  £20.  each,  Lawrence,  M'Call, 
Willing,  Taylor,  Thomas  Bond,  and  Plumsted,  for  ,£15.  each, 
and  Inglis,  Francis,  Franklin,  Shippen,  Strettell,  Phineas  Bond, 
Peters,  Hopkinson,  Maddox,  and  Coleman  for  £10.  each,  and 
Leech,  Syng,  and  White  £6.  each.  Governor  Hamilton, 
through  Mr.  Peters,  added  his  annual  subscription  of  £$o. 
Among  the  general  subscribers  there  are  found  with  varying 
sums,  the  names  of  John  Baynton,  Daniel  Benezet,  William  and 
Ann  Bingham,  William  Blair,  Richard  Brockden,  James  Burd, 
Thomas  Burgess,  Captain  John  Coxe,  William  Cradock,  Jacob 
Duche,  Robert  Green  way,  Lawrence  Growden,  David  Hall, 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Samuel  Hazard,  Samuel  Hasell,  Edwards 
Hicks,  Richard  Hill,  Andrew  Hodge,  James  and  William  Hum- 
phreys, Abel  James,  Margaret  Jeykiil,  Lynford  Lardner,  John 
and  Thomas  Laurence,  jr.,  Archibald  M'Cail,  David  Mcllvaine, 
Charles  and  Reese  Meredith,  Evan  Morgan,  Samuel  Neaves, 
John  Ord,  Stephen  Paschall,  James  Pemberton,  Samuel  Read, 
John  Ross,  Joseph  Saunders,  John  Searle,  Edward  Shippen, 
Joseph  Sims,  Attwood  Shute,  Peter  Sonmans,  Amos  and  John 
Strettell,  James  Trotter,  John  Wallace,  Townsend  White,  John 
Wilcocks,  John  Yeates  ;  a  representative  constituency,  evidencing 
the  sympathy  of  all  portions  of  the  community  in  the  new  enter- 
prise, and  resulting  in  a  first  year's  subscription  of  ^"322.8. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        119 

But  the  contributions  were  not  confined  to  home  sources,  for 
Mess.  David  Barclay  &  Sons  of  London  were  contributors  :  it 
was  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  25  June,  1750,  "that  Mr. 
Joseph  Turner  acquainted  the  members  that  they  had  gener- 
ously presented  the  Academy  with  the  sum  of  One  Hundred 
Pounds  Sterling  Money,  which  they  had  ordered  him  to  pay." 
Publicity  was  given  to  this  by  Franklin  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  2  August,  1750  : 

We  hear  that  an  eminent  merchant  of  London  hath  generously  given 
a  Hundred  Pounds  to  the  Academy  now  erecting  in  this  City,  for  the 
Education  of  Youth,  which  has  accordingly  been  paid  into  the  Hands  of 
the  Trustees  by  his  Correspondent  here. 

But  the  minutes  do  not  record  the  gift  of  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia, which  was  the  first  tie  that  bound  the  corporation  to 
what  was  to  become  its  great  institution.  The  Treasurer  in  his 
journal  records  the  receipt  on  20  August,  1750, 

from  Samuel  Hasell,  Esq.,  the  sum  given  by  the  Corporation  towards 
finishing  the  Building,  .£200.  [And  Franklin  joyfully  informs  the  readers 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  it  on  2  August,  1750:]  Tuesday  last,  the 
Mayor  and  Commonalty  of  this  City  met,  and  voted  a  Sum  of  Two 
Hundred  Poitnds  to  be  paid  down,  and  One  Hundred  Pounds  a  year,  for 
the  Encouragement  and  Support  of  the  Academy  and  of  the  Charity 
School  which  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  have  likewise  undertaken  to 
open  in  this  city,  for  instructing  poor  children  in  Reading,  Writing  and 
Arithmetic:  The  Corporation  only  reserving  a  liberty  of  nominating 
yearly  one  scholar  out  of  those  that  shall  be  taught  in  the  Charity  School, 
to  be  received  into  the  Academy,  and  educated  there  gratis. 

The  subject  had  been  presented  to  the  Council  on  30  July, 
1750,  by  the  Recorder,  William  Allen,  a  Trustee,  who 
proposed  that  it  might  be  considered.  Whether  this  Design  for  the 
advancement  of  Learning,  be  not  worthy  of  some  encouragement  from 
this  Board  as  their  circumstances  may  very  well  afford  it.  *  *  *  It 
appearing  to  be  a  Matter  of  Consequence,  and  but  a  small  number  of  the 
Members  now  present,  [it  was  referred  to  a  special  Meeting  to  be  called  for] 
Tomorrow  at  four  o'clock  in  the  Afternoon  to  consider  of  the  proposal. 

At  the  Common  Council  held  next  day,  of  those  present 
the  Mayor,  the  Recorder,  three  of  the  Aldermen,  and  eight  of 
the  "Common  Council  Men,"  were  Trustees,  viz:  Lawrence, 
Allen,  Turner,  Strettell,  Plumsted,  Francis,  Franklin,  M'Call, 


I2O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Inglis,  Shippen,  Thomas  Bond,  Hopkinson  and  Coleman ; 
"  And  a  Paper  containing  an  Account  of  what  is  already  done 
by  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  and  what  Advantages  are 
expected  from  that  Undertaking  being  laid  before  the  Board 
was  read."  This  had  been  prepared  by  Franklin  and  is  spread 
at  length  upon  the  minutes  ;  it  is  given  elsewhere.  It  recites  : 

The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  have  already  laid  out  near  ,£800.  in  the 
Purchase  of  the  Building,  and  will  probably  expend  near  as  much  more 
in  fitting  up  Rooms  for  the  Schools,  and  furnishing  them  with  proper  Books 
and  Instruments  for  the  Instruction  of  Youth.  The  greatest  Part  of  the 
Money  paid  and  to  be  paid  is  subscribed  by  the  Trustees  themselves,  and 
advanced  by  them  ;  many  of  whom  have  no  children  of  their  own  to 
educate,  but  act  from  a  view  to  the  Public  Good,  without  regard  to  sect  or 
party.  *  *  *  The  Benefits  expected  from  this  Institution  are:  That 
the  youth  of  Pennsylvania  may  have  an  opportunity  of  receiving  a  good 
Education  at  home,  and  be  under  no  necessity  of  going  abroad  for  it. 

*  *     *     That  a  Number  of  our  Natives  will  hereby  be  qualified  to  be  our 
Magistracies,  and  execute  other  public  offices  of  Trust,  with  Reputation  to 
themselves  and   Country;  there  being  at  present  great  want  of  Persons  so 
qualified  in  the  several   counties  of  this  Province.     And  this  is  the  more 
necessary  now  to  be  provided  for  by  the  English  here,  as  vast  numbers  of 
Foreigners    are   yearly  imported   among  us,  totally  ignorant  of  our  Laws, 
Customs  and  Language.     That  a  Number  of  the  poorer  Sort  will  hereby  be 
qualified  to  act  as  Schoolmasters  in  the  Country,  to  teach  Children  Read- 
ing,  Writing,    Arithmetic,   and    the  Grammar    of  their    Mother   Tongue ; 

*  *     *     the  Country  suffering  at  present  very  much   for  want  of  good 
School  masters.      *     *     *     It  is  thought  that  a  good  Academy  erected  in 
Philadelphia,  a  healthy  place  where  Provisions  are  plenty,  situated  in  the 
Center  of  the  Colonies,  may  draw  Numbers  of  Students  from  the  neighbor- 
ing Provinces,  who   must  spend  considerable  Sums  yearly  among  us,  in 
Payment  for  their   Lodging,    Diet,    Apparel,    &c.     *     *     *     Numbers  of 
people  have  already  generously  subscribed  considerable  sums  to  carry  on 
this  Undertaking  ;  but  others,  well   disposed,  are  somewhat  discouraged 
from  contributing,  by  an  Apprehension,  lest  when  the  first  Subscriptions 
are  expended,    the  Design   should  drop .     The  great  Expence  of  such  a 
work  is  in  the  Beginning.     *     *     *     Some  Assistance  from  the  Corpora- 
tion   is    immediately    wanted    and   hoped    for     *     *     *     it   will   greatly 
strengthen  the  Hands  of  all  concerned,  and  be  a  means  of  Establishing 
this  good  work  and  continuing  the  good  Effects  of  it  down  to  an  late 
Posterity.     *     *     *     The  Board  having  weighed  the  great  Usefulness  of 
this  Design,  after  several   Propositions  heard  and  debated,  agreed  that  a 
Sum  of  Money  by  this  Board  and  paid  down  towards  compleating  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        121 

Building  which  the  Trustees  have  purchased,  and  are  now  fitting  up  for 
the  Purpose;  and  likewise,  that  a  sum  or  sums  be  given  yearly  by  this  Board, 
for  five  years  to  come,  towards  the  support  and  Maintenance  of  the  Schools 
under  the  direction  of  the  said  Trustees, 

with  the  result  as  announced  by  Franklin  in  the  next  issue  of  his 
Gazette.  Thomas  Lawrence's  Mayoralty  terminated  the  follow- 
ing October,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  William  Plumsted  ;  and 
his  year's  salary  he  gave  to  the  Academy,  "which  Proposal  was 
approved  by  a  great  Majority  at  a  Common  Council"  held  21 
March,  1751;  and  Mr.  Coleman  enters  the  receipt  "  from  Samuel 
Hassell,  Esq.,  Treasurer  to  the  Corporation,  being  presented  by 
Thomas  Lawrence,  Esqr.,  late  Mayor  of  this  City  (with  the 
Approbation  of  the  Common  Council)  in  lieu  of  giving  a  Mayor's 
Feast  the  sum  of  ^100  ;  "  and  another  Trustee  makes,  in  the  entry 
of  the  same  date,  the  Academy  the  beneficiary  of  his  civil  fees, 
viz:  "from  William  Allen,  Esq,  late  Recorder,  being  his  half 
year's  Salary  as  Recorder  he  gives  .£12.10." 

But  with  all  the  subscriptions  and  benefactions,  the  loan 
from  the  Philadelphia  Lottery  of  Eight  Hundred  Pounds  author- 
ised by  the  Trustees  at  their  third  meeting  was  quite  necessary, 
as  the  building  required  considerable  alterations,  besides  the 
needed  school  outfit  much  of  which  would  have  to  be  imported. 
In  twelve  months  there  were  expended  in  the  New  Building 
upwards  of  .£598,  to  make  it  conform  to  their  proposed  require- 
ments. This  includes  an  item  on  21  August,  1750,  "paid  for 
Provisions  at  second  raising  ,£4.4.11  ;"  which  was  doubtless  a 
wholesome  and  needful  expenditure ;  but  when  the  good  Treas- 
urer records  in  all  gravity,  2  May,  "  given  the  Bricklayers  to 
drink  2/3,"  and  the  same  date  "given  ditto  for  drink  7/6,"  we 
are  led  from  the  object  of  the  expenditure  to  consider  what 
may  be  in  grammatical  correctness  designed  for  a  distinction  in 
the  two  entries  by  the  use  of  a  different  preposition.  The 
Bricklayers  were  a  favored  crew,  for  they  received  at  this  "  sec- 
ond Raising,"  "  for  drink,  155."  However,  the  Carpenters  were 
later  remembered,  as  on  3  I  October  they  were  paid  for  drink 
7/6,  on  7  December,  los,  and  on  3  January  again  7/6.  As 
Franklin  had  charge  of  the  repairs  and  alterations  in  the  Build- 


122        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ing  and  rendered  exact  accounts  of  every  item  expended  to  his 
worthy  friend  the  Treasurer,  which  the  latter  faithfully  records, 
he  must  have  found  local  custom  too  strong  to  resist,  and  doubt- 
less with  resignation  submitted  and  with  a  protest  charged  the 
idle  expenditure  to  the  Academy  funds.  These  are  the  little 
pictures  which  display  to  us  customs  of  time  and  place.4 

An  offer  from  Mr.  Samuel  Hazard  made  to  the  Trustees 
and  reported  to  them  at  the  meeting  of  10  November,  1750,  to 
sell  them  two  lots,  one  on  each  side  of  the  Academy  lot,  subject 
to  Ground  Rents,  for  the  sum  of  three  hundred  pounds,  was 
accepted.  One  of  these  was  twenty-five  feet  on  Fourth  Street 
by  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  feet  eight  inches  adjoining  the 
Academy  lot  on  the  north,  and  the  other  thirty-four  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  forty  feet  adjoining  on  the  south.  This  gave  the 
Trustees  a  frontage  of  two  hundred  and  nine  feet  on  Fourth 
Street.  The  first  payment  of  ^155  was  made  on  27  February, 
and  the  balance  of  ^145  on  23  April  following.  This  increase 
of  Real  Estate,  which  it  will  be  seen  was  added  to  in  1753,  by 
absorbing  all  the  ground  Northward  to  Arch  Street,  was  simply 
an  indication  on  the  part  of  those  interested  that  they  were 
planting  for  the  future  an  institution  of  far  reaching  capabilities 
and  usefulness  ;  the  sagacity  exhibited  in  these  purchases  was 
equalled  only  by  the  faith  held  by  these  gentlemen  in  the  great 
promises  of  their  Academy  and  Charity  School. 

Franklin's  summary  of  the  work  now  begun  must  be  told  by 
his  own  narrative,  which  cannot  be  equalled  in  another's  lan- 
guage. To  Jared  Eliot  he  is  writing  on  13  February,  1750— 51, 5 
and  after  giving  "  his  thoughts  about  the  northeast  storms  begin- 
ning to  leeward,"  and  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Schuyler's  copper 
mines  in  New  Jersey  the  previous  Autumn,  he  proceeds, 

It  will  be  agreeable  to  you   to  hear,  that  our  subscription  goes  on 


4  In  his  essay  on  the  Vice  of  Drunkenness  in  the  New  England  Courant  which 
Franklin  had  written  more  than  twenty-five  years  before,  he  said  :  "  I  doubt  not  but 
moderate  Drinking  has  been  improved  for  the  Diffusion  of  Knowledge  among  the 
ingenious  Part  of  Mankind  who  want  the  Talent  of  a  ready  utterance,  in  order  to  dis- 
cover the  Conceptions  of  their  Minds  in  an  entertaining  and  intelligible  Manner." 
Did  he  now  recall  this  sentiment  in  the  tipple  to  these  workmen  ? 

5Bigelow,  ii.  164. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       123 

with  great  success,  and  we  suppose  will  exceed  five  thousand  pounds  of 
our  currency.  We  have  bought  for  the  Academy  the  house  that  was  built 
for  itinerant  preaching,  which  stands  on  a  large  lot  of  ground  capable  of 
receiving  more  buildings  to  lodge  the  scholars,  if  it  should  come  to  be  a 
regular  college.  The  house  is  one  hundred  feet  long  and  seventy  wide, 
built  of  brick,  very  strong,  and  sufficiently  high  for  three  lofty  stories.  I 
suppose  the  building  did  not  cost  less  than  two  thousand  pounds  ;  but  we 
bought  it  for  seven  hundred  seventy  five  pounds,  eighteen  shillings,  eleven 
pence,  and  three  farthings;  though  it  w'ill  cost  us  three  and  perhaps  four 
hundred  more  to  make  the  partitions  and  floors,  and  fit  up  the  rooms.  I 
send  you  enclosed  a  copy  of  our  present  Constitutions  but  we  expect  a 
charter  from  our  Proprietaries  this  summer,  when  they  may  probably 
receive  considerable  alterations. 

With  what  gratification  must  he  have  written  to  Mr  Eliot 
on  12  September  following  "Our  Academy  flourishes  beyond 
expectation.  We  have  now  above  one  hundred  scholars,  and 
the  number  is  daily  increasing."  6 

This  large  building,  originally  designed  for  one  large  audi- 
ence room,  or  "  great  and  lofty  hall"  as  Franklin  describes  it, 
with  two  rows  of  windows  as  we  see  in  many  of  our  older 
churches,  was  divided  into  two  stories,  and  rearranged  substan- 
tially as  we  of  our  generation  knew  it  before  its  complete 
destruction  in  1844.  The  well  known  cuts  of  it  in  local  histo- 
ries afford  a  correct  exterior  view.  The  entrance  opened  into  a 
lar^e  hall,  on  either  side  large  class  rooms,  that  to  the  north 
being  occupied  by  the  Charity  School.  The  Western  half 
of  the  first  floor  was  occupied  by  the  large  school  room,  about 
ninety  by  thirty-five  feet,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a  platform 
whereon  all  the  teachers  from  the  unhappy  Beveridge  to  the 
robust  Crawford  wielded  their  authority,  from  which  however 
the  latter  would  often  descend  to  try  his  rattan  on  some  heedless 
pupil  who  perchance  had  little  thought  then  of  commem- 
orating the  worthy  Dominie  in  these  pages.  The  hall  here 
turned  to  the  South  between  the  large  room  and  the  front  class 


6  Bigelow,  ii.  235,  and  he  adds  "  We  have  excellent  masters  at  present ;  and  as 
we  give  pretty  good  salaries,  I  hope  we  shall  always  be  able  to  procure  such.     We 

pay  the  Rector,  who  teaches  Latin  and  Greek,  per  annum .£200 

The  English  master .£'5° 

The   Mathematical  professor   . £12S 

Three  assistant  teachers,  each  ;£ 60 


124       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

room,  and  then  to  the  West,  opening  out  into  the  play  ground, 
about  one  hundred  feet  by  fifty,  where  many  a  happy  half  hour 
was  spent  during  recess,  and  where  Alexander  Graydon,  the 
new  pupil,  perhaps  earned  his  first  laurels  in  the  art  of  self 
defense.7  We  moderns  when  relaxing  thus  in  the  midst  of 
school  hours,  had  little  thought  of  the  worthy  and  venerable 
associations  which  clustered  around  the  building  ;  nor  were  John 
Beveridge's  pupils  a  century  before  us  any  more  mindful  of  these, 
when  on  a  concerted  signal  a  few  hiding  in  the  play  ground  closed 
the  heavy  wooden  shutters  to  darken  the  room  on  his  entrance, 
affording  to  the  majority  remaining  within  the  fun  of  raising  a 
Bedlam,  from  which  the  unlucky  professor  could  only  find  refuge 
under  a  school  form  and  escape  from  their  missiles  of  books  and 
rulers.8  In  this  side  hall  arose  a  heavy  stair  case  with  a  solid 
balustrade  which  had  stood  the  racket  of  hundreds  of  lads  of  all 
sizes  and  weights,  and  which  on  a  turn  opened  into  a  large  upper 
hall  covering  the  width  of  the  building  and  about  ninety  feet  of 
its  length.  Across  the  south  end,  over  the  stairway,  was  a  gal- 
lery, and  the  rostrum  was  against  the  north  wall.  Here  were 
held  the  Commencements  and  all  the  public  exercises,  and  on 
Sundays  Divine  service  by  Whitefield  when  he  was  in  the  city, 
by  Dr  Tennent  with  his  new  congregation,  and  by  others  who 
could  subscribe  the  Creed  recited  in  the  deed  of  conveyance. 
Here  we  may  picture  Mr.  Smith's  first  display  of  his  pupils'  ora- 
torical accomplishments  in  the  Christmas  holidays  of  1756  when 
they  performed  the  Masque  of  Alfred,  which  they  repeated  the 
following  spring  before  sundry  of  the  colonial  Governors  then 
visiting  Philadelphia.  A  space  of  perhaps  eighty  feet  or  more 
remained  between  the  building  and  Fourth  Street,  the  street 
being  shut  off  by  a  high  wall,  in  which  was  a  modest  gate.  This 
front  campus  was  devoted  solely  to  the  solemn  entrance  or  the 
joyful  exit  of  the  pupils,  and  no  play  or  pranks  were  here  per- 
mitted. And  even  in  our  day  there  sat  just  outside  of  the  gate 
the  descendant  of  the  old  dame  of  Gabriel  Thomas'  time,  vend- 
ing "  on  any  day  in  the  week,  tarts,  pies,  cakes,  &c"  which  cer- 
tainly were  toothsome  if  not  wholesome. 

7  Memoirs  of  a  Life,  &c.  Alexander  Graydon,  28.  8  Ibid,  p.  35. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        125 

Herein  continued  the  operations  of  the  College  and  Uni- 
versity until  the  purchase  a  half  century  later  of  the  premises  on 
Ninth  Street,  between  Market  and  Chestnut  Streets,  whither 
they  moved  in  1802,  and  which  is  now  succeeded  by  the 
United  States  Post  Office  ;  and  by  a  happy  coincidence  there 
stands  on  the  latter's  front  pavement  the  bronze  statue  of  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  recently  erected  there  to  the  memory  of  the 
great  colonial  Postmaster  General,  appointed  in  1753,  who  was 
as  well  the  Founder  of  the  University,  from  which  the  Govern- 
ment holds  its  present  title. 


XII. 

But  in  the  midst  of  these  material  preparations  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  future  scholars,  the  mental  provision  for 
them  was  well  undertaken.  At  the  meeting  of  29  March  it  was 
voted  "that  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  hundred  pounds  sterling 
be  paid  by  the  Treasurer  to  the  said  Committee  [Messrs  Franklin, 
Allen,  Coleman,  Peters,  Hopkinson  and  Francis]  to  be  disposed 
of  in  Latin  and  Greek  Authors,  Maps,  Drafts  and  Instruments 
for  the  use  of  the  Academy;"  which  the  Journal  tells  us  was 
forwarded  in  a  bill  of  Robert  and  Amos  Strettell's  for  one  hun- 
dred pounds  sterling,  which  cost  the  Trustees  at  the  current 
exchange  £173.10,  to  Mr.  Peter  Collinson  in  London  for  his 
purchase  of  the  required  articles.  It  was  through  Mr.  Collin- 
son's  friendly  agency  in  January  following  that  they  bought  "a 
parcel  of  Latin  and  Greek  books  of  John  Whiston,  Bookseller, 
.£30.11  ;  prints  bought  of  Bowles  59/,  and  Instruments  bought 
of  Adams  £4.14,  and  Mathematical  instruments  bought  of  John 
Moyan  .£33.12/6,"  which  with  shipping,  insurance,  and  current 
rate  of  exchange  cost  them  £138.3.10.  On  the  margin  of  this 
last  entry,  Franklin  has  himself  made  a  note  describing  some  of 


126        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  items  in  the  bills,  "Bowning's  Phil0  I5/,  Philipps  Lang"  5/, 
Map  of  the  World  gj,  Rectifer  3/6."  l  Of  Mr.  Collinson,  Franklin 
wrote  to  Jared  Eliot,  12  September,  175  i,2  in  answer  to  inquiries 
about  him  : 

the  Collinson  you  mention  is  the  same  gentleman  I  correspond  with. 
He  is  a  most  benevolent,  worthy  man,  very  curious  in  botany  and  other 
branches  of  natural  history,  and  fond  of  improvements  in  agriculture,  &c. 
He  will  be  pleased  with  your  acquaintance.  In  the  late  Philosophical 
Transactions,  you  may  see  frequently  papers  of  his,  or  letters  that  were 
directed  to  him,  on  various  subjects.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society. 

Franklin's  correspondence  with  this  gentleman  in  his  Elec- 
trical experiments  has  been  referred  to  on  a  previous  page;  his 
letter  to  Mr.  Michael  Collinson  giving  some  biographical  facts 
respecting  himself  is  found  in  Sparks'  Franklin,  vii.  426,  and 
contains  the  sentence  :  "  The  characters  of  good  men  are  exem- 
plary, and  often  stimulate  the  well  disposed  to  an  imitation, 
beneficial  to  mankind  and  honourable  to  themselves." 

We  are  not  told  the  places  of  meeting  of  the  Trustees, 
except  those  of  the  1st  and  2nd  February,  which  were  held  at 
Roberts's  Coffee  House.  The  subsequent  meetings  doubtless 
were  held  in  one  of  the  apartments  of  the  New  Building,  other 
than  those  which  were  undergoing  alteration  and  change. 


1  Compendious  System  of  Natural  Philosophv,  by  John  Bonning.  of  which  an 
edition  had  been  printed  in  London  in  1744,  two  vols.    Way  of  Teaching  Languages, 
London,  1723,  by  J.  Thomas  Philipps. 

2  Bigelow,  ii.  235. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.        127 

XIII. 

Though  Mr.  Martin  had  been  secured  for  the  Rectorship, 
there  had  been  higher  aims  in  view,  and  Franklin  bent  his 
energies  to  secure  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  D.  D.  of  Stratford,  Connecticut,  to  under- 
take the  general  direction  of  the  Academy  ;  and  it  must  have 
been  with  this  design  in  view  that  Mr.  Martin  accepted  the 
Rectorship.  Under  the  Constitutions,  the  Rector  was  obliged, 
"  without  the  Assistance  of  any  Tutor,  to  teach  twenty  Scholars 
the  Latin  and  Greek  Languages,  and  at  the  same  Time,  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  his  Capacity,  to  instruct  them  in  History, 
Geography,  Chronology,  Logick,  Rhetorick,  and  the  English 
Tongue  ;  and  Twenty-five  Scholars  more  for  every  Usher  pro- 
vided for  him,  who  shall  be  entirely  subject  to  his  Direction." 
He  was  to  be  in  fact,  the  first  professor  in  honor  and  rank,  and 
no  reference  was  made  to  his  general  governance  of  the  institu- 
tion or  to  any  responsibility  attaching  to  the  office  as  head  of 
the  faculty.  Such  a  person  was  needed,  although  not  so  stipu- 
lated in  the  Constitutions,  and  came  to  be  known  afterwards 
under  the  amended  charter  of  1755  as  Provost,  when  the  then 
Rector,  Dr.  Alison,  was  made  Vice-Provost,  and  the  Rev.  William 
Smith  being  the  first  incumbent  of  the  Provostship.  Such  an 
one  Franklin  believed  he  found  in  Dr.  Johnson,  whose  eminence 
as  a  divine  and  a  scholar  in  the  Eastern  Provinces  had  brought 
to  him  in  1743  Oxford's  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  They 
were  both  correspondents  of  Cadwallader  Colden,  and  through 
this  learned  intermediary  Franklin  formed  Johnson's  acquaint- 
ance, and  the  more  he  knew  of  him  the  more  did  he  desire  to 
secure  him  for  his  new  Philadelphia  enterprise.  So  earnest  was 
he  in  the  pursuit  of  this  object,  that  he  and  his  associate  Trustee, 
Tench  Francis,  journeyed  to  Stratford  in  the  early  summer  of 
1750,  hoping  ;to  secure  his  acquiescence  in  their  plans.  It 
appears  that  some  talk  of  a  college  for  New  York  had  been  had 
in  1749,  and  Johnson  had  been  consulted  in  regard  to  it.  The 
knowledge  of  this,  and  the  present  lack  of  certainty  in  the  New 
York  movement,  must  have  led  Franklin  to  the  belief  that  the 


128        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

good  Stratford  Rector  would  prefer  engaging  in  the  new  institu- 
tion in  the  metropolis  of  the  British  colonies  than  await  the 
developments  of  one  in  New  York.  Johnson  had  sought  upon 
this  latter  the  advice  and  counsel  of  the  good  George  Berkeley, 
Bishop  of  Cloyne,  whose  few  years  residence  in  this  new  country 
had  endeared  him  to  all  here  who  were  his  friends  or  corre- 
spondents. The  Bishop's  wise  and  friendly  reply  of  23  August, 
1749,  reached  Stratford  after  the  visit  of  the  Philadelphia  gentle- 
men, and  Dr.  Johnson  enclosed  it  to  Franklin,  but  his  letter  of 
inclosure  is  not  preserved.  The  entire  correspondence  is  given 
in  the  Appendix,  as  no  mere  extracts,  for  which  the  text  can 
find  a  place  here,  can  offer  a  just  estimate  of  the  communications 
which  these  two  worthy  men  had  one  with  the  other  on  the 
subject. 

In  age,  Samuel  Johnson  was  ten  years  the  senior  of  Benja- 
min Franklin,  being  born  in  Guilford,  Connecticut,  14  October, 
(o.  s.)  1696.  At  ten  years  of  age  his  first  schooling  was  under 
the  tuition  of  Jared  Eliot,  a  Yale  graduate  of  1706;  although 
this  tutelage  continued  but  a  year,  as  Eliot  then  entered  the 
ministry  and  settled  at  Killingworth,  yet  the  latter's  affection  for 
his  pupil  ripened  into  friendly  relations  in  after  life ;  and  as 
Eliot  and  Franklin  became  correspondents  the  latter  must  have 
heard  through  him  of  his  former  pupil.  Johnson  graduated  at 
Yale  College  when  it  was  yet  at  Saybrook,  in  1714,  and  follow- 
ing the  example  of  his  early  preceptor  he  began  teaching  a 
school  of  the  higher  order  in  his  native  town.  When  the  Trus- 
tees decided  in  1716  to  move  the  College  to  New  Haven, 
Johnson  was  elected  one  of  the  Tutors,  and  he  was  for  a  time 
the  only  tutor  in  the  new  location,  being  joined  in  1718  by  his 
classmate  Daniel  Brown,  the  animosities  engendered  by  the 
removal  of  the  College  keeping  apart  for  some  years  the  con- 
tending factions  created  by  this  removal.  The  controversies 
terminated  in  1719,  and  Governor  Yale's  benefactions  in  money 
and  books  to  the  institution  won  for  it  the  name  it  has  honestly 
borne  in  the  long  years  since.  In  March,  1720,  he  was  ordained 
a  Congregational  Minister,  but  even  at  that  moment,  had 
written  a  paper  which  yet  remains  in  manuscript  entitled 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        129 

"  My  present  Thoughts  of  Episcopacy  with  what  I  conceive  may 
justifie  me  in  accepting  Presbyterial  Ordination,"  which  prepares 
us  to  accept  without  surprise  his  eventual  adoption  of  Episco- 
palian views.  Many  of  his  friends  were  moved  in  the  same 
direction  ;  and  when  the  Rev.  Timothy  Cutler,  the  President  of 
the  College,  Rev.  John  Hart,  Rev.  Samuel  Whittelsey,  Rev. 
Jared  Eliot,  Rev.  James  Wetmore,  Rev.  Daniel  Brown,  and 
himself,  made  a  public  declaration  on  Commencement  Day,  17 
September,  1722,  "that  some  of  them  doubted  the  validity,  and 
the  rest  were  more  fully  persuaded  of  the  invalidity  of  Presby- 
terian ordination  in  opposition  to  the  Episcopal,"  we  can  scarcely 
picture  to  ourselves  in  these  later  days  the  grief  and  surprise 
with  which  it  was  received  not  only  in  the  College,  but  through- 
out the  colony  where  State  and  Church  were  almost  indissoluble. 
This  was  a  theological  and  religious  movement  without  parallel 
in  colonial  days.  The  public  discussions  held  to  convince  them 
of  their  error,  had  the  effect  of  preventing  Eliot,  Hart  and  Whit- 
telsey actually  seeking  Episcopal  ordination,  and  these  remained 
to  the  end  of  their  days  in  the  Congregational  ministry,  and 
they  continued  friends  but  not  members  of  Episcopacy.  John- 
son, Cutler,  and  Brown  sailed  in  a  few  weeks  for  England,  and 
on  22  March,  1723  they  were  ordained  Deacons,  and  on  31 
March,  Priests,  both  ordinations  being  held  at  St.  Martins-in-the- 
Fields,  London  ;  but  Brown  fell  a  victim  to  smallpox  and  died 
on  13  April,  a  disease  Cutler  was  seized  with  on  his  arrival  but 
happily  recovered  from.  Johnson  returned  to  Stratford  by 
November  following.  There  was  no  place  of  public  worship  for 
Episcopalians  in  Connecticut,  but  one  had  been  begun  in  Strat- 
ford, of  which  Johnson  took  the  Rectorship,  and  it  was  opened 
for  religious  services  on  the  Christmas  twelvemonth.  Here  he 
continued  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties,  with  an 
affectionate  interest  for  his  alma  mater,  in  whose  early  tribula- 
tions he  had  a  share,  and  with  a  revival  of  his  taste  for  teaching 
in  the  growth  of  his  children,  his  eldest  son  being  born  in  1/27 
whose  early  years  found  all  their  mental  training  at  his  hands ; 
and  "  that  it  might  be  more  agreeable  to  them  to  have  com- 
panions, he  took  several  gentlemen's  sons  of  Newport  and 


130        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Albany."  On  Bishop  Berkeley's  visit  to  this  country  and  his 
residence  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  he  visited  him,  and  began 
a  lifelong  acquaintance,  and  was  to  some  extent  a  sharer  in  his 
peculiar  views.  The  Bishop's  scheme  for  a  great  college  in 
some  part  of  the  new  world  growing  up  under  England,  must 
have  found  a  sympathiser  in  Johnson  ;  and  when  a  College  was 
talked  of  in  New  York,  and  Johnson  was  conferred  with  on  the 
matter,  he  at  once  sought  the  advice  and  counsel  of  Berkeley, 
with  the  result  already  noticed. 

Franklin's  visit  to  Stratford  must  have  afforded  him  some 
hopes  of  success  with  his  appeal  to  Johnson.  He  writes  him,  9 
August,  1750, 3 

Mr  Francis,  our  Attorney  General,  who  was  with  me  at  your  house, 
from  the  conversation  then  had  with  you,  and  reading  some  of  your  pieces, 
has  conceived  an  esteem  for  you  equal  to  mine.  The  character  we  have 
given  of  you  to  the  other  trustees,  and  the  sight  of  your  letters  relating  to 
the  Academy,  has  made  them  very  desirous  of  engaging  you  in  that  design, 
as  a  person  whose  experience  and  judgment  would  be  of  great  use  in  form- 
ing rules  and  establishing  good  methods  in  the  beginning,  and  whose  name 
for  learning  would  give  it  a  reputation.  We  only  lament  that  in  the  infant 
state  of  our  funds  we  cannot  make  you  an  offer  equal  to  your  merit  But 
as  the  view  of  being  useful  has  most  weight  with  generous  and  benevolent 
minds,  and  in  this  affair  you  may  do  great  service  not  only  to  the  present 
but  to  future  generations,  I  flatter  myself  sometimes  that  if  you  were  here, 
and  saw  things  as  they  are,  and  conversed  a  little  with  our  people,  you 
might  be  prevailed  with  to  remove.  I  would  therefore  earnestly  press  you 
to  make  us  a  visit  as  soon  as  you  conveniently  can  ;  and  in  the  meantime 
let  me  represent  to  you  some  of  the  circumstances  as  they  appear  to  be. 
*  *  *  It  has  long  been  observed,  that  our  Church  is  not  sufficient  to 
accommodate  near  the  number  of  people  who  would  willingly  have  seats 
there.  The  buildings  increase  very  fast  towards  the  south  end  of  the  town, 
and  many  of  the  principal  merchants  now  live  there  ;  which  being  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  present  church,  people  begin  to  talk  much 
of  building  another,  and  ground  has  been  offered  as  a  gift  for  that  purpose. 
The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  are  three  fourths  of  them  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  the  rest  men  of  moderate  principles.  They  have 
reserved  in  the  building  a  large  hall  for  occasional  preaching,  public 
lectures,  orations,  etc. ;  it  is  70  feet  by  60  feet,  furnished  with  a  handsome 
pulpit,  seats,  etc.  In  this  Mr.  Tennent  collected  his  congregation,  who 

3  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Samuel  Johnson,  D.  D.,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Beards- 
ley,  p.  157. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       131 

are  now  building  him  a  meetinghouse.  In  the  same  place,  by  giving  now 
and  then  a  lecture,  you  might,  with  equal  ease,  collect  a  congregation  that 
would  in  a  short  time  build  you  a  church,  if  it  should  be  agreeable  to  you. 
*  *  *  And  when  you  are  well  settled  in  a  church  of  your  own, 
your  son  may  be  qualified  by  years  and  experience  to  succeed  you  in  the 
Academy  ;  or  if  you  rather  choose  to  continue  in  the  Academy,  your  son 
might  probably  be  fixed  in  the  church.  *  *  *  I  acquainted  the  trus- 
tees that  I  would  write  to  you,  but  could  give  them  no  dependence  that 
you  would  be  prevailed  on  to  remove.  They  will,  however,  treat  with  no 
other  till  I  have  your  answer.  *  *  *  There  are  some  other  things  best 
treated  of  when  we  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.  It  begins  now  to  be 
pleasant  travelling.  I  wish  you  would  conclude  to  visit  us  in  the  next 
month  at  furthest  Whether  the  journey  produce  the  effect  we  desire  or 
not,  it  shall  be  no  expense  to  you. 

Dr.  Peters  wrote  the  same  day  to  Dr.  Johnson  urging  a 
visit  and  inviting  him  to  his  house: 4 

I  am  obliged  to  you  for  the  honor  you  did  me  in  your  compliments 
to  Mr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Francis .  *  *  *  Though  personally  unknown 
to  you,  I  must  take  the  freedom,  from  a  hint  that  such  a  journey  would 
not  be  disagreeable  to  you,  to  give  you  an  invitation  to  my  house.  Let 
me,  good  sir,  have  the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  a  gentleman  whose 
character  I  have  for  a  long  time  esteemed.  *  *  *  I  can  tell  you 
beforehand,  that  can  my  friends  or  I  find  any  expedient  to  engage  your 
residence  among  us,  I  will  leave  nothing  unattempted  in  the  power  of, 
Reverend  Sir,  your  affectionate  brother  and  humble  servant,  RICHARD 
PETERS  . 

From  Dr.  Johnson's  retention  of  his  Stratford  cure  when  he 
finally  accepted  the  Presidency  of  King's  College,  we  may  see  in 
this  an  obstacle  in  his  way  to  coming  to  Philadelphia  almost 
insuperable.  Stratford  was  within  easy  stages  of  New  York, 
where  he  would  reside  during  College  term.  Franklin  held  out 
to  him  the  hope  of  building  up  a  new  cure  in  Philadelphia,  thus 
anticipating  by  ten  years  the  formation  of  St.  Peter's  Church 
which  grew  out  of  Christ  Church.  But  this  would  have  been 
considered  an  intrusion,  unless  Dr.  Jenney  the  Rector  had  made 
the  way  open  for  the  effort  ;  however,  Dr.  Peters  was  at  that  time 
in  the  Vestry  and  could  have  facilitated  the  assent  of  the  Rector. 

1  Beardsley,  160. 


132        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Franklin  in  his  rejoinder5  of  23  August  endeavors  to  combat 
this,  and  with  one  of  his  apt  similes  : 

Your  tenderness  of  the  Church's  peace  is  truly  laudable  ;  but,  me 
thinks,  to  build  a  new  church  in  a  growing  place  is  not  properly  dividing 
but  multiplying  ;  and  will  really  be  a  means  of  increasing  the  number  of 
those  who  worship  God  in  that  way.  Many  who  cannot  now  be  accommo- 
dated in  the  church  go  to  other  places  or  stay  at  home  ;  and  if  we  had 
another  church,  many  who  go  to  other  places  or  stay  at  home,  would  go  to 
church.  I  suppose  the  interest  of  the  church  has  been  far  from  suffering 
in  Boston  by  the  Building  of  two  new  churches  there  in  my  memory.  I 
had  for  several  years  nailed  against  the  wall  of  my  house,  a  pigeon  box 
that  would  hold  six  pair  ;  and  though  they  bred  as  fast  as  my  neighbors' 
pigeons,  I  never  had  more  than  six  pair  ;  the  old  and  strong  driving  out  the 
young  and  weak,  and  obliging  them  to  seek  new  habitations.  At  length  I 
put  up  an  additional  box,  with  apartments  for  entertaining  twelve  pair 
more,  and  it  was  soon  filled  with  inhabitants,  by  the  overflowing  of  my  first 
box  and  of  others  in  the  neighborhood.  This  I  take  to  be  a  parallel  case 
with  the  building  a  new  church  here. 

The  correspondence  was  continued,  Franklin  again  writing 
him  13  September,  but  Dr.  Johnson  gave  a  final  reply  in  Jan- 
uary, 1752  :6 

I  am  now  plainly  in  the  decline  of  life,  both  as  to  activity  of  body 
and  vigor  of  mind,  and  must,  therefore,  consider  myself  as  being  an  Emeri- 
tus, and  unfit  for  any  new  situation  in  the  world  or  to  enter  on  any  new 
business,  especially  at  such  a  distance  from  my  hitherto  sphere  of  action 
and  my  present  situation,  where  I  have  as  much  duty  on  my  hands  as  I  am 
capable  of  and  where  my  removal  would  make  too  great  a  breach  to  be 
countervailed  by  any  good  I  am  capable  of  doing  elsewhere,  for  which  I 
have  but  a  small  chance  left  for  much  opportunity.  So  that  I  must  beg 
my  good  friends  at  Philadelphia  to  excuse  me,  and  I  pray  God  they  may  be 
directed  to  a  better  choice.  And  as  Providence  has  so  unexpectedly  pro- 
vided so  worthy  a  person  as  Mr.  Dove  for  your  other  purpose,  I  hope  the 
same  good  Providence  will  provide  for  this.  I  am  not  personally  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Winthrop,  the  Professor  at  Cambridge,  but  by  what  I  have  heard 
of  him,  perhaps  he  might  do.  But  I  rather  think  it  would  be  your  best 
way  to  try  if  you  cannot  get  some  friend  and  faithful  gentleman  at  home,  of 
good  judgment  and  care,  to  inquire  and  try  if  some  worthy  Fellow  of  one 
or  other  of  the  universities  could  not  be  obtained.  Perhaps  Mr.  Peters  or 
Mr.  Dove  may  know  of  some  acquaintance  of  theirs,  that  might  do  likely  : 


5  Beardsley,  163,  also  Bigelow,  ii.  204.     This  is  the  only  letter  of  this  inter- 
esting correspondence  included  by  Mr.  Bigelow.  6  Beardsley,  165,  167. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        133 

dulciits  ex  ipsio  foriibus.  *  *  *  *  Meantime  you  have,  indeed,  my 
heart  with  you  as  though  I  were  ever  so  much  with  you  in  presence,  and  if 
there  were  any  good  office  in  my  power  you  might  freely  command  it 

From  Franklin's  press  was  issuing  at  this  time  the  sheets 
of  a  work  by  Johnson  on  Ethics,  entitled  Elementa  PJiilosophica, 
containing  chiefly  Noetica,  or  Things  relating  to  the  Mind  or  Un- 
derstanding ;  and  Et/iica,  or  tilings  relating  to  the  Moral  Be- 
haviour. It  bears  the  imprint  of  B.  Franklin  and  D.  Hall, 
Philadelphia,  1752.  In  Johnson's  letter,  last  referred  to,  he  re- 
fers to  this  :  "I  thank  you  for  sending  the  two  sheets  of  my 
'  Noetica,'  which  are  done  with  much  care.  I  find  no  defects 
worth  mentioning  but  what  were  probably  my  own." 

A  work  written  by  Samuel  Johnson,  printed  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  dedicated  to  Bishop  Berkeley,  is  singular  in  this 
happy  conjunction  of  noted  names.  And  it  is  a  happy  coinci- 
dence that  a  vice  Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  has 
given  us  the  first  American  Annotations  on  Bishop  Berkeley's 
Treatise  on  the  Principles  of  Human  Knowledge.  Dr.  Krauth 
says  "  the  first  place  in  the  Berkeleyan  roll  of  honor  is  due  to 
Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,"  and  describes  his  "  Elementa  Philosophica 
as  thoroughly  Berkeleyan  in  its  main  features."  1 

King's  College  had  been  less  Catholic  in  its  intentions  and 
designs  than  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  and  was  without  a  lead- 
ing mind  to  direct  its  early  steps  such  as  the  latter  was 
favored  with.  As  early  as  1/46  a  provincial  act  was  passed 
authorising  a  lottery  for  a  College  ;  the' results  of  this,  to  which 
were  added  some  benefactions  of  Trinity  Church,  produced  more 
than  £3400.  which  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Trustees  by  en- 
actments of  the  Colonial  Legislature  in  1753,  a  majority  of  whom 
were  Church  of  England  men. 

The  Presbyterian  interest,  under  the  leadership  of  William 
Livingston,  thwarted  its  consummation  for  some  years  ;  but  a 
charter  was  finally  granted  31  October,  1754,  and  Samuel  John- 
son accepted  the  Presidency ;  leaving  his  pleasant  home  at 
Stratford  in  April,  but  neither  removing  his  family  or  resigning 

T  A  Treatise,  etc.,  with  Prolegomena  and  Annotations,  Charles  V.  Krauth, 
D.  D.,  Philada.,  1886,  p.  36.  See  Sparks,  vi.  125,  note.  Also  letter  of  Franklin  to 
Johnson  about  the  slow  sale  of  Noetica,  15  April,  1754,  in  Beardsley,  180. 


134        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

his  parish.  On  reaching  New  York  he  was  unanimously  chosen 
an  assistant  Minister  of  Trinity  Church,  which  he  declined.  His 
labors  for  the  College,  his  early  building  of  it,  do  not  find  a 
place  here ;  they  are  elsewhere  more  worthily  written  ;  but  it 
is  pleasant  to  contemplate  here  even  at  this  late  day,  the  in- 
teresting historic  connection  existing  between  Columbia  College 
and  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  associations  with  the 
latter  which  the  first  President  of  the  former  held  ;  and  the  Uni- 
versity may  with  peculiar  interest  reflect  that  perhaps  it  was  the 
success  of  efforts  of  Benjamin  Franklin  and  his  colaborers  in 
Philadelphia  that  hastened  the  work  in  New  York  and  enabled 
the  founders  of  Columbia  to  more  effectively  overcome  the  op- 
position of  politics  or  of  jealousy.  A  graceful  reminder  of  this 
exists  in  a  Library  chair  of  Franklin's,  the  legacy  of  Mrs.  Cath- 
arine Wistar  Bache  to  Dr.  Hosack  and  by  him  given  to  the 
Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  New  York  in  1822,  which 
is  maintained  in  a  place  of  honor  in  the  Library  of  Columbia 
College.  May  the  bond  of  friendship  continued  in  their  con- 
temporary years  of  youth  not  be  forgotten  in  the  present  day 
when  both  institutions  are  rising  more  fully  into  the  recognition 
of  University  needs.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  the  funds 
in  later  years  collected  in  the  Mother  country  for  the  aid  of  both 
these  institutions  was  done  in  a  joint  commission,  upon 
which  Jay  and  Smith  so  successfully  planted  their  Appeal  for  aid 
in  developing  colonial  education. 

Dr.  Johnson's  advertisement  of  the  opening  of  the  new 
College  in  I  July,  1754  was  given  in  the  N.  Y.  Gazette  :  or  the 
Weekly  Post  Boy,  of  3  June  and  its  terms  foreshadow  the  cur- 
riculum and  discipline  of  the  institution,  and  as  it  is  worthy  of 
perusal  as  not  only  showing  the  Doctor's  present  arrangements 
but  his  future  plans,  it  is  printed  entire  elsewhere.  But  the  last 
Article  seems  such  a  reflex  of  the  Philadelphia  Proposals  of 
1 749  that  it  will  bear  repetition  here. 

And,  lastly,  a  serious,  virtuous,  and  industrious  Course  of  Life,  being 
first  provided  for,  it  is  further  the  Design  of  this  College,  to  instruct  and 
perfect  the  Youth  in  the  learned  Languages,  and  in  the  Arts  of  reasoning 
exactly,  of  writing  correctly,  and  speaking  eloquently  :  and  in  the  Arts  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        135 

numbering  and.  measuring  ;  of  Surveying  and  Nain'gation,  of  Geography  and 
History,  of  Husbandry,  Commerce  and  Government,  and  in  the  Knowledge 
of  all  Nature  in  the  Heavens  above  us,  and  in  the  Air,  Water  and  Earth, 
around  us,  and  the  various  kinds  of  Meteors,  Stones,  Mines  and  Minerals, 
Plants  and  Animals,  and  of  every  Thing  useful  for  the  Comfort,  Con- 
venience and  elegance  of  Life,  in  the  chief  Manufactures  relating  to  any  of 
these  Things  :  And  finally,  to  lead  them  from  the  Study  of  Nature  to  the 
Knowledge  of  themselves,  and  of  the  God  of  Nature,  and  their  Duty  to 
him,  themselves,  and  one  another,  and  every  Thing  that  can  contribute 
to  their  true  Happiness,  both  here  and  hereafter. 

On  21  July  we  find  Dr.  Peters  in  New  York  preaching  in 
Trinity  Church  and  St.  George's  Chapel  that  day,8  where  "  his 
audiences  were  great,  and  the  sermons  universally  approved 
of"  ;  and  we  can  picture  him  visiting  Dr.  Johnson  amid  his  new 
classes,  and  telling  him  of  the  success  of  the  Philadelphia  Acad- 
emy, not  yet  a  College,  and  of  their  recent  engagement  with 
young  William  Smith,  who  gave  promise  of  supplying  that  place 
in  its  administration  which  the  Trustees  had  hoped  Dr.  Johnson 
would  fill. 

From  age  and  ill  health  Dr.  Johnson  resigned  his  Presi- 
dency in  1763,  and  retired  to  his  beloved  Stratford,  where  he 
passed  his  remaining  years  among  his  books  and  in  continuance 
of  his  correspondence,  leaving  his  parochial  duties  in  its  details 
largely  to  his  assistant ;  and  died  6  January,  1772.  His  son  wrote 
of  him 

He  died  as  he  had  lived,  with  great  composure  and  serenity  of  mind  *  *  * 
He  often  wished,  and  repeated  it  the  morning  of  his  departure,  that  he 
might  resemble  in  his  death  his  friend,  the  late  excellent  Bishop  Berkeley, 
whose  virtues  he  labored  to  imitate  in  his  life  and  Heaven  heard  his 
prayer. 

Kings  College  suffered  during  the  Revolution  as  did  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  in  1787  it  arose  into  freshened 
life  under  the  new  name  of  Columbia,  and  Dr.  Johnson's  eldest 
son,  Hon.  William  Samuel  Johnson,  was  its  first  President,  re- 
signing in  1800. 


8  The  New-  York  Gazette  of  22  July,  1754. 


136        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XIV. 

By  the  end  of  March,  1750,  the  Trustees  entertaining  hopes 
of  Samuel  Johnson  for  the  head  of  the  institution,  on  the  29th, 
"  Resolved  that  the  Academy  be  opened  as  soon  as  possible  by 
accepting  the  most  suitable  Person  that  can  be  procured  for  a 
Rector,"  or  chief  Professor,  and  apparently  having  such  in  view 
it  was  "ordered  that  Mr.  David  Martin  be  acquainted  with  the 
above  resolution  and  be  requested  to  accept  of  the  Rectorship 
and  enter  into  it  on  the  I3th  of  May  next."  No  further  Minute 
bears  on  this  appointment,  but  the  Treasurer's  books  show  that 
Mr.  Martin's  remuneration  began  on  13  July  in  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  pounds  per  annum.  This  action  confirms  the  state- 
ment that  some  higher  functionary  was  desired  besides  the 
Rector,  for  when  Mr.  Martin's  salary  began  it  has  been  seen 
that  negotiations  were  pending  with  Dr.  Johnson,  which  the 
Trustees  kept  alive  for  more  than  a  twelvemonth.  The  term 
Rector  had  been  given  at  Yale  at  the  outset  to  the  head  of  the 
College,  Rector  or  Master  as  some  time  alternatively  used  ;  the 
Rector  and  Fellows,  /.  e.  Tutors,  his  Fellows  in  tuition,  was  the 
style  of  the  early  Faculty,  which  became  in  1745  the  President 
and  Fellows  which  it  remains  to  this  day.  It  was  during  the 
administration  of  Rector  Clap,  Franklin's  correspondent,  that 
this  change  of  name  took  place  at  Harvard  ;  the  head  of  the 
infant  seminary  Rev.  Henry  Dunster,  took  the  office  and  was 
first  stiled  President  in  1642,  and  the  corporation  under  the 
charter  of  1650  became  the  President  and  Fellows,  the  Overseers 
under  the  Act  of  1642  remaining  the  governing  body. 

Before  the  scholars  could  find  accommodations,  the  Rector 
was  secured,  who  could  give  his  time  to  the  Trustees  in  further- 
ance of  their  plans.  Franklin  in  his  Narrative  of  these  events 
written  perhaps  forty  years  later  describes  this  stage  of  the 
proceedings. l 

A  house  was  hired,  masters  engaged,  and  the  schools  opened  ;  I 
think  in  the  same  year,  1749.  The  scholars  increasing  fast,  the  house  was 

1  Bigelow,  i.  225. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        137 

soon  found  too  small,  and  we  were  looking  out  for  a  piece  of  ground,  prop- 
erly situated,  with  intention  to  build,  when  Providence  threw  into  our  way1 
a  large  house  ready  built,  which  with  a  few  alterations  might  well  serve  our 
purpose.  This  was  the  building  before  mentioned,  erected  by  the  hearers 
of  Mr.  Whitefield. 

It  has  been  affirmed  there  were  at  the  time  of  this  purchase 
some  Charity  School  with  its  few  scholars  accommodated  in 
this  building,  which  led  to  Franklin  in  those  later  years  relating 
without  due  exactness  that  his  Academy  had  at  once  on  its 
inception  in  1749  begun  with  teachers  and  scholars,  and  hence 
the  necessity  of  a  larger  building.  But  neither  do  the  minutes 
nor  the  Treasurer's  accounts  confirm  this,  and  indeed  Franklin's 
letter  to  Mr.  Eliot,  of  February,  1750,  before  quoted,  leaves  no 
room  for  any  support  of  this  statement. 

At  this  meeting  of  29  March,  it  was  also 

Ordered  that  Messrs.  Benjamin  Franklin,  William  Allen,  William  Cole- 
man,  Richard  Peters,  Thomas  Hopkinson  and  Tench  Francis  be  a  Com- 
mittee to  consider  and  report  whether  it  be  most  convenient  for  the  Pupils 
to  pay  a  Gross  Sum  for  being  instructed  in  all  the  branches  of  Learning  to 
be  taught  in  the  Academy  or  distinct  sums  for  each. 

The  results  of  their  deliberations  on  this  point  were 
adopted  at  their  meeting  of  10  November  following,  when  it 
was  "  Ordered,  That  the  sum  of  twenty  shillings  quarterly,  and 
twenty  shillings  entrance  money,  with  a  rateable  share  of  the 
Expense  of  firing  in  the  Winter  Season,  be  paid  by  each  Pupil, 
for  which  they  may  be  instructed  in  any  Branches  of  Learning  to 
be  taught  at  the  Academy."  Ere  they  were  prepared  to  receive 
any  Scholars  or  offer  them  any  good  tuition,  many  inquiries 
must  have  reached  them  early  as  to  their  procedure  upon  differ- 
ent details  of  their  promising  establishment ;  for  besides  the 
above  consideration  of  fees,  they  had  made  a  minute  at  the  pre- 
vious meeting,  6  February,  1750. 

The  Trustees  being  informed  that  an  Objection  is  made  to  that  Arti- 
cle of  the  Constitution  which  relates  to  the  Admission  of  Scholars,  Declare 
that  the  said  Article  is  not  intended  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  accom- 
modate the  Number  of  Scholars  to  the  number  of  Masters,  and  the  cir- 


1  Mr.  Sparks  renders  this,  "  when  acciJent  threw  into  our  way,  etc.,"  i.  159. 


138        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

cumstances  of  the  Academy  ;  and  that  in  every  Admission  a  regard  will 
be  had  to  the  Priority  of  Application,  without  any  View  to  Sect  or  Party. 

It  scarcely  needed  this  affirmation  to  give  the  community 
the  assurance  that  this  very  Catholic  body  of  Trustees  would 
countenance  any  favoritism  in  the  admission  of  pupils  according  to 
the  religious  standing  of  the  parent ;  but  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  purchase  of  the  New  Building  with  a  reference  to  a  Creed  in 
the  conveyance,  and  that  Creed  being  as  duly  formally  recorded 
as  was  the  conveyance,  may  have  led  the  unfriendly  and  the 
unsympathising  to  raise  doubts  in  the  minds  of  their  friends  as 
to  the  very  broad  and  liberal  scope  the  Founder  desired  to  give 
to  its  operations. 

At  the  meeting  of  27  July  it  was  "  Resolved  that  the  Eng- 
lish Master's  salary  be  increased  from  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
pounds  to  one  hundred  and  fifty;"  but  this  is  the  first  minute 
defining  a  salary,  and  the  sum  originally  named  must  have  been 
agreed  to  informally  ;  perhaps  thus  early  began  those  differences 
of  opinion  among  the  Trustees  as  to  the  proper  eminence  of 
English  in  the  proposed  curriculum  which  Franklin  so  stoutly 
contended  for,  not  that  it  should  take  any  precedence  of  the 
classics,  but  that  it  should  be  maintained  with  equal  dignity 
through  all  the  Academy  course. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  meeting  on  10  November  that  the 
Trustees  felt  confidence  in  naming  a  time  for  the  opening ;  their 
plans  for  a  proper  adaptation  of  the  building  to  their  purposes 
were  to  have  been  consummated  for  school  uses  in  the  usual 
Autumn  term,  but  delays  incident  to  such  radical  changes  in 
construction  as  they  found  it  necessary  to  make  lost  them  these 
autumn  months ;  not  discouraged,  however,  they  proposed  to 
lose  no  longer  time  than  was  essential  to  the  comfort  of  their 
teachers  and  scholars,  and  would  begin  in  midwinter  ;  and  they 
ordered  "That  the  Academy  be  opened  on  the  Seventh  day  of 
January  next,  and  the  Rates  of  Learning  and  the  opening  be 
published  in  the  Gazette  a  Fortnight  hence."  The  Teachers 
were  already  under  review,  for  we  shall  see  that  at  their  Decem- 
ber meeting  they  were  prepared  to  act  and  to  create  a  faculty 
for  the  Academy.  The  public  announcement  of  the  opening  is 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       139 

couched  in  simple  yet  reverent  language  by  the  hands  of  the 
Founder,  and  we  can  perhaps  imagine  his  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions and  those  of  his  co-workers  when  they  read  their  institu- 
tion in  print  and  found  themselves  committed  to  the  public  for 
the  greatest  venture  in  an  educational  line  yet  attempted  in  the 
Province.  The  time  had  not  been  misspent  or  misused  since 
the  announcement  of  his  famed  Proposals  in  the  Gazette  of  24 
August,  1749,  but  a  steady  progress  had  been  made  and  the 
twenty-four  Trustees  had  worked  together  with  unanimity  and 
harmony  under  a  wise  leadership,  until  they  now  found  themselves 
well  equipped  to  fulfill  to  the  community  all  their  promises.  The 
advertisement  appeared  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  as  follows  : 

Phila.  December  n.  1750 

NOTICE  is  hereby  given,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  ACADEMY  of  Phila- 
delphia, intend  (God  willing)  to  open  the  same  on  the  first  Monday  of  Janu- 
ary next  ;  wherein  Youth  will  be  taught  the  Latin,  Greek,  English,  French, 
and  German  Languages,  together  with  History,  Geography,  Chronology, 
Logic,  and  Rhetoric  ;  also  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Merchants  Accounts, 
Geometry,  Algebra,  Surveying,  Gauging,  Navigation,  Astronomy,  Drawing 
in  Perspective,  and  other  mathematical  Sciences ;  with  natural  and 
mechanical  Philosophy,  &c,  agreeable  to  the  Constitutions  heretofore  pub- 
lished, at  the  Rate  of  Four  Pounds  per  annum,  and  Twenty  Shillings 
entrance. 

On  the  day  following  the  opening  the  Gazette  contained 
the  following  account  of  it : 

Yesterday  being  the  Day  appointed  for  opening  the  Academy  in  this 
City,  the  Trustees  met,  and  waited  on  His  Honour  our  Governor,  to  the 
publick  Hall  of  the  Building,  where  the  Rev  Mr  Peters  made  an  excellent 
Sermon  on  the  Occasion,  to  a  crowded  audience.  The  Rooms  of  the 
Academy  not  being  yet  compleatly  fitted  for  the  Reception  of  the  Scholars 
the  several  Schools  will  be  opened  To-morrow,  in  a  large  House  of  Mr 
Allen's,  on  Second  Street  :  Those  who  incline  to  enter  their  children  or 
Youth,  may  apply  to  the  Rector,  or  any  one  of  the  Trustees. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  "  the  thanks  of  the  Trustees  were 
given  by  the  President  to  the  Rev  Mr  Peters  for  his  excellent 
Sermon  preached  in  the  Academy  Hall  on  the  Seventh  Day  of 
January,  at  the  opening  of  the  Academy ;  which  was  done 
accordingly.  Mr  Peters'  consent  being  desired  for  the  publica- 
tion of  the  said  Sermon,  he  desires  Time  to  consider  thereof"  ; 


140        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

which,  however,  he  finally  agreed  to,  as  Franklin  and  Hall  before 
the  close  of  the  year  printed  : 

A  Sermon  on  Education  wherein  Some  Account  is  given  of  the 
Academy  Established  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia.  Preached  at  the  open- 
ing thereof  on  the  Seventh  Day  of  January  1750-1  By  the  Reverend  Mr 
Richard  Peters. 

Copies  of  this  are  now  rare.  The  reasons  for  this  delay  he 
gives  in  his  Preface  which  bears  date  1 2  September  : 

When  I  came  to  consider  that  a  Detail  was  made  of  the  Rise  of  the 
Academy,  and  of  the  several  Matters  proposed  to  be  taught  therein,  and 
that  it  might  be  of  great  service  to  publish  this,  in  order  to  remove  mis- 
takes, and  to  enable  the  Publick  to  judge  of  its  Usefulness  and  Seasonable- 
ness,  I  no  longer  hesitated  to  gratify  you  in  the  Publication,  confident 
that  your  Adoption  and  Patronage  will  procure  it  a  favorable  Reception  with 
my  fellow  citizens. 

It  is  an  admirable  Discourse  on  Education  and  eloquent  in 
its  adaptation  to  the  particular  circumstances  which  called  it 
forth ;  and  as  it  must  be  an  instance  of  his  pulpit  powers,  we 
feel  a  natural  disappointment  that  we  have  left  us  so  few  of  his 
sermons.  From  this  Sermon  previous  quotations  have  been 
already  given,  when  recording  his  views  as  to  the  foundation 
of  the  Academy. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.        141 


XV. 

We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  number  of  scholars  offering 
at  the  opening,  but  an  entry  in  the  Treasurer's  books  shows  those 
who  first  paid  entrance  money,  namely,  George  Lea,  William 
Peters,  jun,  and  Richard  Peters,  the  latter  nephews  of  Rev 
Richard  Peters.  From  Dr  Peters  Preface  to  his  Opening  Ser- 
mon, however,  we  obtain  a  gratifying  sight  of  the  progress  of 
the  work, 

It  affords  no  small  Delight  to  every  one  who  has  the  Success  of  this 
Academy  at  Heart  [he  is  writing  in  September]  that  though  many  Things 
promised  in  this  Discourse  remain  to  be  done,  yet  there  is  already  more 
effected  than  in  so  small  a  space  of  Time  could  have  been  reasonably 
expected.  The  Latin  and  English  Masters  give  entire  Satisfaction  ;  indeed 
the  Progress  made  by  the  Boys  in  both  schools  is  truly  surprising  ;  each 
has  now  the  Assistance  of  an  Usher,  made  necessary  by  the  Number  of 
Boys,  who,  notwithstanding  the  prevalence  of  the  Small  Pox  in  Town, 
amount  to  above  one  Hundred.  Masters  are  provided  for  teaching  Writing 
and  French.  The  Mathematical  School  is  daily  increasing.  A  Charity 
School  is  established.  Proper  Prayers  are  composed  for  the  Schools  and 
used  every  Morning  and  Evening. 

We  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  his  commendation  of  the 
Trustees : 

I  must  do  you  the  justice  to  say  that  much  of  this  is  owing  to  your 
Care  and  the  Regularity  of  your  Visitations  ;  and  I  have  no  small  Satisfac- 
tion in  being  able  to  be  thus  particular,  since  it  must  needs  be  agreeable  to 
the  Publick  to  know  that  the  most  necessary  and  useful  Parts  of  the  Scheme 
are  in  such  Forwardness  ;  and  that  there  are  in  the  Academy,  two  good 
Grammar  Schools,  one  in  the  English  and  one  in  the  Latin  Language. 
No  small  Benefit  this  to  the  Province  !  as  in  these  are  laid  the  proper 
Foundations  for  the  higher  Attainments  in  Learning  which  will  likewise  be 
gone  into  when  the  Difficulties  of  the  Masters  arising  from  the  preparing 
and  classing  so  many  Boys  as  are  daily  admitted  from  different  schools,  of 
different  proficiencies,  and  taught  by  different  Methods  shall  abate. 

Of  the  Rector,  David  Martin,  M.  A.,  we  know  but  little; 
he  did  not  live  to  the  end  of  the  year;  and  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  17  December  1751  we  find  the  simple  record  "Wed- 
nesday last  died,  greatly  respected,  Mr.  David  Martin,  Rector 
of  the  Academy  in  this  City."  The  Minutes  of  n  December 


142        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

record  "  upon  occasion  of  the  sudden  Decease  of  Mr  Martin,  the 
Trustees  met  to  consider  of  some  Person  to  supply  his  place  in 
the  Latin  School."  We  learn  a  little  more  of  his  death,  and 
the  action  of  the  Trustees  from  Franklin's  letter  of  24  December, 
175  i,  to  Rev  Dr  Johnson.1 

I  wrote  to  you  in  my  last  that  Mr.  Martin  our  Rector  died  suddenly 
of  a  quinsy.  His  body  was  carried  to  the  church,  respectfully  attended  by 
the  trustees,  all  the  masters  and  scholars  in  their  order,  and  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  citizens.  Mr.  Peters  preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  gave  him 
the  just  and  honorable  character  he  deserved.  The  schools  are  now  broke 
up  for  Christmas,  and  will  not  meet  again  till  the  7th  of  January.  Mr. 
Peters  took  care  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  School  after  Mr.  Martin's  death 
till  the  breaking  up.  And  Mr.  Allison,  a  dissenting  minister,  has  prom- 
ised to  continue  that  care  for  a  month  after  the  next  meeting. 

He  was  buried  in  Christ  Church  Burying  Ground  13 
December,  but  no  stone  marks  the  place  of  burial  of  the  first 
Rector  of  the  Academy. 

The  Rector's  assistants  were  decided  upon  at  the  meeting 
of  17  December,  1750,  in  the  following  Minutes  : 

Mr.  David  James  Dove  having  lately  come  hither  from  England 
where  the  Trustees  are  informed  he  had  the  care  of  a  School  for  many 
years,  and  having  offered  himself  for  an  English  Master,  The  Trustees 
being  in  a  great  measure  strangers  to  him  do  order  that  he  be  accepted  for 
the  English  Master  in  the  Academy  for  one  year,  to  commence  on  the 
seventh  day  of  January  next,  for  the  Sallary  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  in  order  to  make  Tryal  of  his  care  and  ability. 

Mr.  Theophilus  Grew  having  offered  himself  as  a  Master  in  the 
Academy  to  teach  Writing,  Arithmetic,  Merchants  Accounts,  Algebra, 
Astronomy,  Navigation,  and  all  other  Branches  of  the  Mathematics  ;  it  is 
ordered  that  he  be  received  as  such  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds  a  year,  his  service  to  commence  on  the  Seventh  day  of  January 
next 

Mr.  Charles  Thomson  having  offered  himself  as  a  Tutor  in  the  Latin 
and  Greek  School,  and  having  been  examined  and  approved  of  by  the 
Rector,  is  admitted  as  a  Tutor  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  school  at  the  rate  of 
sixty  pounds  a  year,  to  commence  on  the  seventh  day  of  January  next. 

1  Beardsley,  1 66. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        143 

XVI. 

DAVID  JAMES  DOVE,  the  English  Master,  is  best  known  to 
us  by  the  criticism  on  him  by  his  young  pupil  Richard  Peters 
who  in  later  years  described  him  as  a  "sarcastical  and  ill-tem- 
pered doggerelizer,  who  was  but  ironically  Dme  ;  for  his  temper 
was  that  of  a  hawk,  and  his  pen  the  beak  of  a  falcon  pouncing 
on  innocent  prey."  This  reference  is  to  the  part  he  took  in  all 
the  political  issues  of  the  day  with  his  caustic  rhymes.  Graydon 
tells  us l  he  was 

much  celebrated  in  his  day  as  a  teacher,  and  no  less  as  a  dealer  in  the 
minor  kind  of  satirical  poetry.  *  *  *  It  was  his  practice  in  his  school,  to 
substitute  disgrace  for  corporal  punishment  His  birch  was  rarely  used  in 
canonical  method,  but  was  generally  stuck  into  the  back  part  of  the  collar 
of  the  unfortunate  culprit,  who,  with  this  badge  of  disgrace  towering  from 
his  nape  like  a  broom  at  the  mast  head  of  a  vessel  for  sale,  was  compelled 
to  take  his  stand  upon  the  top  of  the  form,  for  such  a  period  of  time  as  his 
offence  was  thought  to  deserve. 

Graydon  was  a  pupil  at  his  school  about  1759  or  1760,  from 
whence  he  went  to  the  Academy,  and  these  practices  of  Mr. 
Dove  doubtless  were  displayed  when  he  was  at  the  Academy. 
He  tells  us  Dove's  school  was  "  at  this  time,  kept  in  Videll's 
Alley,  which  opened  into  Second,  a  little  below  Chestnut  Street. 
It  counted  a  number  of  scholars  of  both  sexes,  though  chiefly 
boys." 

Whether  the  duties  of  the  Academy  did  not  fully  employ 
his  talents,  or  his  ambition  found  but  little  promise  in  its  routine, 
he  sought  occupation  to  add  to  these  stated  duties.  We  find  his 
advertisement  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  29  August  1751  : 

As  the  Scheme  formed  by  the  Gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  for  the 
regular  Education  of  their  Sons,  has  been  happily  carried  into  Execution  ; 
the  Ladies  excited  by  the  laudable  example,  are  solicitous  that  their  Daugh- 
ters too  might  be  instructed  in  some  Parts  of  Learning,  as  they  are  taught 
in  the  Academy.  Mr  Dove  proposes  to  open  a  school  at  said  Academy  for 
young  Ladies,  on  Monday  next,  in  which  will  be  carefully  taught  the  Eng- 
lish Grammar  ;  the  true  Way  of  Spelling,  and  Pronouncing  properly  ; 
together  with  fair  Writing,  Arithmetick,  and  Accounts  :  So  that  the  Plan 


1  Memoirs,  pp.  24,  25. 


144        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

recommended  by  the  Universal  Spectator  may  be  exactly  pursued.  Price 
Ten  Shillings  Entrance  and  Twenty  Shillings  per  Quarter. 

No  reference  is  made  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  to  this, 
but  their  assent  must  have  been  had  to  the  scheme.  On  10 
December  1751,  a  minute  records. 

There  being  above  90  Scholars  now  in  the  English  School,  and  Mr. 
Dove  having  declared  he  found  it  impossible  duly  to  instruct  so  great  a 
number  without  another  Assistant,  the  Trustees  agreed  to  accept  of  one  Mr 
Francis  Peisley,  who  offered  himself,  and  who  Mr.  Dove  represented  as  a 
Person  well  qualified  for  a  Tutor  in  that  School,  and  to  allow  him  at  the 
Rate  of  .£50.  per  annum 

His  first  assistant  was  John  Jones  who  had  been  appointed 
on  25  September.  Before  an  assistant  was  given  him,  the  Trus- 
tees had  voted  him  9  July,  1751, 

an  allowance,  in  consideration  of  his  extraordinary  Trouble  in  teaching  a 
greater  Number  of  Scholars  for  some  time  past  than  by  the  Constitu- 
tions he  is  obliged  to  do,  and  for  the  Board  of  a  Lad  whom  he  entertained 
for  some  time  as  an  assistant,  in  the  sum  of  Ten  pounds. 

At  the  meeting  of  9  June  1752,  reference  was  made  to  Mr. 
Peisley's  departure,  and  there  still  being  "above  Ninety  Scholars 
in  the  English  School,"  and  Mr.  Jones,  the  remaining  assistant 
not  being  sufficient,  the  President  was  desired  to  confer  with  him 
about  providing  another.  But  at  the  meeting  of  10  October  it 
was  represented  that 

Mr  Dove  had  since  Mr.  Peisley' s  Departure  caused  two  of  the  most 
capable  Boys  in  his  School  to  assist  him  in  teaching  the  Younger  Scholars, 
acquainted  the  Trustees  that  he  was  willing  to  continue  that  Method  if  they 
approve  thereof,  and  agree  to  make  the  said  Boys  a  suitable  allowance  for 
their  trouble.  But  upon  considering  the  matter,  the  Trustees  are  of  Opin- 
ion, it  would  be  more  advantageous  to  the  School  that  a  good  Usher  should 
be  provided. 

At  the  meeting  of  1 5  November  we  find  recorded  the  names 
of  these  "two  of  the  most  capable  boys,"  namely,  Edward  Bid- 
die  and  William  Scull,  who  were  allowed  Twenty  Dollars  each 
as  a  Reward  for  assisting  Mr.  Dove. 

But  the  cause  for  Mr  Dove's  anxiety  for  two  ushers  is  found 
in  a  preceding  minute  of  the  same  meeting,  which  testifies  to  his 
continuance  of  his  own  school.  "The  Trustees  being  informed 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        145 

that  Mr  Dove  makes  a  Practice  of  leaving  his  School  at  Eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  four  in  the  afternoon  ;  and  such 
frequent  absences  of  the  Master  being  thought  a  Disadvantage 
to  the  School,  Mr  Franklin  and  Mr  Peters  are  desired  to  speak 
to  him  about  it,  and  request  his  Attendance  during  the  School 
Hours."  At  the  following  meeting  these  gentlemen  reported 
that  "  Mr  Dove  acknowledged  what  had  been  reported  of  him 
concerning  his  leaving  the  School,  and  that  he  seemed  desirous 
of  being  indulged  in  that  practice,  but  the  Trustees  considered 
it  as  of  bad  example  and  too  great  a  Neglect  of  the  children 
under  his  care,  and  desired  him  to  be  informed  they  would  expect 
he  will  attend  the  School  at  the  appointed  Hours."  Mr  Dove, 
anxious  to  maintain  his  school,  made  a  proposition  for  other 
hours,  but  finally  on  13  February  1753 

the  Trustees  having  fully  considered  this  Request  and  the  ill  Consequence 
such  an  indulgence  would  be  attended  with,  adhered  to  their  former  opin- 
ion ;  *  *  *  and  as  he  had  said,  in  Case  his  present  Request  was  not 
granted  he  would  continue  to  take  care  of  the  School  for  a  Quarter,  or  till 
they  could  provide  another  Master,  so  they,  on  their  Part,  would  give  him 
a  Quarter's  notice  when  they  had  provided. 

On  10  July  following  Mr  Kinnersley  was  provided  for  the 
English  school,  and  Mr  Dove  was  relieved.  The  detail  of  this 
transaction  illustrates  the  care  and  watchfulness  of  the  Trustees 
over  the  labors  of  their  Teachers  and  Ushers.  And  it  is  also  in 
some  measure  a  testimony  to  Mr.  Dove's  merits  and  abilities  as 
a  teacher  that  they  dealt  so  patiently  with  him,  not  wishing  to 
lose  his  services  on  any  peremptory  notice.  Franklin's  senti- 
ments regarding  him  were  testified  to  in  his  letter  of  24  Decem- 
ber, 1751,  to  Dr.  Johnson,  where  he  says, 

The  English  master  is  Mr  Dove,  a  gentleman  about  your  age,  who 
formerly  taught  grammar  sixteen  years  at  Chichester  in  England.  He  is 
an  excellent  master,  and  his  scholars  have  made  a  surprising  progress.2 

In  later  years,  upon  the  discontinuance  of  the  Videll's  Alley 
School,  he  opened  a  private  academy  in  Germantown  in  the 
house  yet  standing  immediately  west  of  the  Germantown  Academy, 
wherein  however  he  was  not  very  successful.  He  had  taken 

2  Beardsley,  p.  166. 


146        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lodgers  in  his  house  ;  besides  the  lad  he  entertained  who  had 
assisted  him,  he  at  one  time  lodged  Charles  Thomson,  the  young 
Tutor,  but  Thomson  found  his  hosts  uncongenial  and  soon 
sought  other  quarters.  The  first  English  Master  mads  a  history 
for  himself,  other  than  the  records  of  the  Academy  display,  in 
teaching  Graydon  and  being  associated  with  Thomson,  two  his- 
toric characters  whose  writings  have  commemorated  him,  but 
not  in  flattering  terms. 

THEOPHILUS  GREW  styled  himself  "  Mathematical  Profes- 
sor at  the  Academy  in  Philadelphia"  where  he  "asks  commu- 
nications of  observations  on  Eclipse  of  the  Moon  next  Tues- 
day"  from  the  public  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  23  May, 
1751,  and  he  thus  officially  signs  the  Constitution.  Thus  if  his 
claim  be  admitted,  we  must  put  him  third  in  the  long  list  of 
Professors,  as  Martin  and  Dove  who  precede  him  in  nomi- 
nation must  be  allowed  his  peers  in  rank.  But  as  he  was  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  n  July,  1755,  "  unanimously 
elected  Mathematical  Professor,"  the  confirmation  of  his  title  is 
assured.  A  later  advertisement  indicates  that  pupils  to  the 
new  Academy  were  offering  from  the  interior  and  from  other 
places,  as  indeed  did  Mr.  Dove's  lodgers  as  well  :  "  YOUTH  for 
the  Academy  may  be  boarded  in  Arch  Street,  at  the  House  of 
Theophilus  Grew,  MATHEMATICAL  PROFESSOR,"  we  are  informed 
in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazetted  14  November,  1751.  He  pur- 
sued the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  following  in  his  leisure  hours 
scientific  studies  instead  of  indulging  in  political  rhymes,  and 
developing  no  pecularities  which  a  Thomson  or  a  Graydon  found 
worthy  of  record.  In  Dove's  successor  Kinnersley,  and  with 
Franklin,  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  the  Mathe- 
matical Professor  found  congenial  friends,  and  remained  in  the 
service  of  the  institution  until  his  death  in  1759.  Provost  Smith 
in  his  account  of  the  Academy  in  the  American  Magazine  for 
October,  1758,  speaks  of  him  as  "  having  so  long  been  an 
approved  teacher  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in  this  city, 
that  I  need  say  nothing  to  make  him  better  known  than  he  is 
already."  His  tomb  stone  in  Christ  Church  Burying  Ground 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         147 

erected  over  his  remains  which  were  laid  within  a  few  feet  of 
the  Academy  Building  where  he  so  worthily  taught,  is  but  par- 
tially decipherable  at  this  day. 

Here  lies  interred 

the  Body  of 

MR  THEOPHILUS  GREW. 
He  distinguished  himself  in  Life  by 

many  exemplary  Virtues 
and  many  valuable  Qualifications. 

He  was  very  deeply  learned 
in  Astronomy  and  the  Mathematics 

whereby  he  rendered  himself 

a  most  useful  Member  of  Society 

He  served  as  Professor  of 

those  noble  sciences 

in  the  College  of  this  City. 

He  discharged  the  trust  with 

honor  and  integrity. 

CHARLES  THOMSON,  born  in  November  1729  a  native  of 
Ireland,  became  the  first  Tutor  of  the  Academy  when  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  crossed  the  ocean  with  his  father 
when  but  ten  years  of  age,  and  his  father  dying  at  sea,  he  and 
an  elder  brother  landed  at  New  Castle  orphans  among  strangers. 
By  his  peculiar  energies  he  seized  favorable  opportunities  for 
schooling,  and  was  at  one  time  under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev. 
Francis  Alison,  also  an  Irishman,  at  his  school  at  Thunder  Hill, 
Maryland,  and  who  succeeded  Mr.  Martin  as  Rector  of  the 
Academy.  While  here  a  schoolmate  returning  from  Philadel- 
phia brought  with  him  a  volume  of  the  Spectator :  he  read  it 
with  such  delight,  that  learning  an  entire  set  could  be  purchased 
for  the  amount  of  the  small  sum  he  had  at  command,  he  set  off 
without  asking  permission  on  foot  to  Philadelphia  to  purchase 
it.3  His  truancy  was  excused  in  consideration  of  its  motive. 
This  recalls  to  us  the  fascination  Franklin  found  in  this  work. 
May  it  not  be  that  his  visit  to  Philadelphia  brought  him  ac- 
quainted with  Franklin  at  a  time  the  Academy  was  being 
formed,  and  he  was  led  eventually  to  offer  himself  to  the  Trus- 


3  Duyckinck,  i.  170. 


148        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tees  as  a  Tutor  in  Latin  and  Greek,  when  he  was  accepted  after 
due  examination  and  proof  by  the  Rector.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green, 
President  of  Princeton  College,  in  his  Autobiography  said  of 
him  in  after  years  "  he  was  one  of  the  best  classical  scholars 
our  country  has  ever  produced."  Young  Thomson  continued 
Tutor  until  his  resignation  in  the  spring  of  1755,  when  we  find 
by  the  Minutes  of  17  March 

a  letter  to  the  Trustees  from  Mr.  Charles  Thomson,  one  of  the  Tutors  in 
the  Latin  School,  was  read,  acquainting  them  with  his  Intention  of  leaving 
the  Academy  within  two  or  three  Months,  having  a  Design  to  apply  him- 
self to  other  Business  ;  Mr.  Peters  was  therefore  desired  to  assist  Mr. 
Alison  in  providing  another  in  his  Room.  The  Trustees  at  the  same 
Time,  declared  themselves  well  satisfied  that  the  said  Mr.  Thomson  had 
discharged  the  Duties  of  his  Place  with  Capacity,  Faithfulness  and 
Diligence. 

But  the  "  other  business  "  did  not  prevail,  as  we  find  him  in  the 
September  following  engaging  himself  as  teacher  in  the  Friends 
Publick  School,  then  located  on  Fourth  Street  below  Chestnut. 
It  is  not  requisite  that  his  life  should  be  further  sketched  here,  but 
reference  must  be  made  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  tutor  in 
the  Academy  who  became  the  Secretary  to  Congress  from  1774 
to  the  close  of  the  war,  the  "  Perpetual  Secretary  "  as  he  was  often 
called.  The  acquaintance  formed  with  Franklin  through  his  con- 
nection with  the  Academy  ripened  into  mutual  esteem  and  con- 
tinued through  life,  and  their  correspondence  whether  as  friend 
to  friend  or  as  Secretary  to  Ambassador  breathes  on  Franklin's 
part  a  warm  appreciation  of  the  younger  man's  faithfulness  and 
intelligence.  In  his  letter  written  from  Passy,  13  May,  1784, 
on  the  Ratification  of  the  Definitive  Treaty  with  England,  so 
full  of  patriotic  advice  to  his  countrymen  now  acknowledged  by 
the  parent  to  be  free,  and  to  be  a  Nation  of  like  independence 
with  her,  he  says  to  Thomson4  "Thus  the  great  and  hazardous 
enterprise  we  have  been  engaged  in,  is,  God  be  praised,  happily 
compleated ;  an  event  I  hardly  expected,  I  should  live  to  see." 
But  it  was  in  a  different  tone  that  he  wrote  to  his  "  Dear  Old 


4  Bigelow,  viii.   492.     Also,  for  the  Thomson  correspondence,   vide  N.   Y. 
Historical  Society's  Collections  for  1878,  p.  185. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         149 

Friend"  Thomson  on  29  December,  1788,  after  his  return 
home,  upon  the  subject  of  his  own  public  services  which  he 
deemed  and  with  justice  had  not  met  with  that  recognition 
which  they  merited.  No  one  but  he  at  that  day  could  weigh 
with  accuracy  the  sum  of  those  services  as  well  as  he,  but  later 
history  has  realised  what  was  done  by  him  in  those  weary  and 
anxious  years  when  for  his  country's  sake  he  was  exiled  from 
the  comforts  of  his  home. 

My  good  friend,  excuse,  if  you  can,  the  trouble  of  this  Letter  ;  and  if 
the  reproach  thrown  on  Republicks,  that  they  are  apt  to  be  ungrateful, 
should  ever  unfortunately  be  verified  with  respect  to  your  services,  remem- 
ber that  you  have  the  right  to  unbosom  yourself  in  communicating  your 
griefs  to  your  affectionate  ancient  friend  and  most  obed.  humble  ser- 
vant, B.  Franklin.5 

Charles  Thomson  employed  his  later  years  in  a  translation 
of  the  entire  Bible,  an  excellent  contribution  to  Biblical  literature  ; 
this  was  printed  in  four  volumes  in  Philadelphia  in  1808.  His 
own  copy  of  this  admirable  version  with  his  latest  MS.  cor- 
rections is  in  the  Philadelphia  Library.  He  lived  to  the  age  of 
94,  dying  16  August,  1824.  His  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
characters  figuring  in  Revolutionary  scenes,  and  is  worthy  of 
study  by  every  young  man.  At  the  treaty  with  the  Indians 
at  Easton  in  1757,  they  named  him  in  their  language 
"The  Man  of  Truth,"  which  clung  to  him  always;  and  upon 
doubtful  tidings  and  uncertain  rumors  prevailing,  his  friends 
would  say  of  him  "Here  comes  the  truth:  here  is  Charles 
Thomson!"  Thomson  married  secondly  in  1774  Hannah 
Harrison  a  niece  of  Isaac  Norris,  the  Speaker,  for  many  years  a 
Trustee  of  the  College  and  Academy.  He  was  called  to  the 
Secretaryship  of  Congress  the  day  after  his  wedding  ;  his  notes 
of  its  proceedings  were  taken  in  short  hand,  and  on  his  return 
home  from  Philadelphia  in  the  evening  to  Harriton  it  was  this 
faithful  wife  who  wrote  out  from  them  the  Minutes  of  Congress. 


5  Bigelow,  x.  29.     N.  Y.  Historical  Society's  Collections,  1878,  p.  248. 


150        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XVI. 

Six  months  from  the  opening  of  the  Academy  had  only 
elapsed  when  a  second  Tutor  was  engaged  ;  the  Minutes  of  9 
July,  1751,  recording  "  Mr.  John  Jones,  late  of  Connecticut  of- 
fering himself  for  a  Tutor  under  Mr.  Dove  in  the  English 
School,  the  Trustees  have  agreed  with  him  for  one  quarter,  at 
the  rate  of  Fifty  pounds  per  annum;"  this  quarter  proved  his 
capacity,  and  we  find  that  in  a  twelvemonth  (14  July,  1752)  the 
Trustees  on  his  request  "  for  an  augmentation  of  his  salary  de- 
clared their  willingness  to  add  Ten  pounds  per  annum  to  his 
salary."  The  Mathematical  Professor  needing  aid  for  his  writ- 
ing lessons,  we  find  that  at  the  same  meeting  Mr.  John  Jones 
was  appointed. 

"Mr.  Horace  Jones,  late  of  Chester  County,  offering  himself  upon 
Tryal  for  three  months,  as  an  Assistant  to  Mr.  Grew,  and  the  Trustees 
present  having  seen  a  specimen  of  his  Writing,  agree  to  make  Tryal  of  him 
for  that  Time,  and  to  allow  him  after  the  Rate  of  Fifty  pounds  per  annum.' ' 

At  the  meeting  in  February  following  his  salary  was  like- 
wise increased  ten  pounds.  On  21  September,  1752,  Theophilus 
Grew  and  Horace  Jones  advertise  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette 
"on  Monday,  the  ninth  of  October  next,  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Atkinson,  in  Second  street,  and  opposite  to  Mr.  Boudinot's,  an 
Evening  School  is  intended  to  be  open'd  for  teaching  of  Writing, 
Arithmetick,  Navigation,  Surveying,  Algebra,  and  other  parts  of 
the  Mathematicks,  and  to  continue  until  the  middle  of  March 
next.  Those  who  incline  to  be  instructed,  are  desir'd  to  give  in 
their  names  immediately  to  either  of  the  Subscribers,  living  in 
Arch  Street."  This  was  repeated  in  substance  the  year  follow- 
ing, and  the  effort  was  a  success.  Night  Schools  were  now  rend- 
ered safer  by  the  lighted  streets.  "  Monday  night  last  the 
streets  of  this  city  began  to  be  illuminated  with  lamps,  in  Pur- 
suance of  a  late  Act  of  Assembly."  Pennsylvania  Gazette  12 
September,  1751.  But  these  were  not  safe  from  the  lively  boys 
of  the  town.  "  Last  week  a  Person  was  convicted  of  breaking 
one  of  the  Public  Lamps,  by  throwing  an  Apple  at  it,  and  paid  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        151 

Fine  of  Forty  Shillings."     Gazette  3  October,  1751.     This  is  the 
first  mark  an  apple  has  made  in  local  history. 

At  the  meeting  of  10  December  following,  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Peisley  followed,  as  before  stated  ;  but  he  remained 
only  until  the  following  summer  as  we  find  from  the  Treasurer's 
accounts ;  and  before  his  place  was  supplied  Mr.  Dove  had  the 
opportunity  of  calling  upon  two  of  his  young  pupils,  Biddle  and 
Scull,  to  assist  him  as  previously  related.  Before  Mr.  Peisley 's 
departure  we  find  in  the  Minutes  of  21  April,  1752  : 

The  number  of  Scholars  now  in  the  Latin  School  requiring  that 
another  Tutor  should  be  provided,  and  Mr.  Alison  having  recommended 
one  Mr.  Paul  Jackson  as  a  person  well  qualified,  the  Trustees  present 
agree  to  accept  of  him,  and  allow  him  at  the  Rate  of  Sixty  Pounds  per  an- 
num. 

He  continued  as  Tutor  until  1756.  The  next  in  order  is 
Patrick  Carroll,  who  in  the  minutes  of  9  June,  1752,  it  is  said, 
"  has  for  some  time  assisted  Mr.  Price  in  the  Charity  School," 
we  find  by  the  minutes  of  1 2  December  is  "  now  employed  as 
an  Usher  under  Mr.  Dove,"  but  he  continued  only  until  Novem- 
ber, 1753,  when  lack  of  scholars  in  the  English  school  made  his 
services  no  longer  needed.  The  next  tutors  were  young  Barton 
and  Duche ;  but  before  our  narrative  reaches  their  time,  other 
details  of  the  early  working  of  the  Academy  call  for  mention, 
and  we  have  yet  to  enter  upon  the  second  Rectorship.  How- 
ever we  must  not  overlook  the  opening  exercises  of  the  second 
year  of  which  the  Minutes  take  no  note.  Franklin  makes  a  note 
of  it  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  7  January,  1752. 

Yesterday  being  the  anniversary  of  the  opening  of  the  Academy  in 
this  city,  an  excellent  Sermon  was  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the 
Reverend  Mr.  PETERS,  in  the  Academy  Hall,  from  these  words,  Luke,  ii, 
52.  And  Jesus  increased  in  Wisdom  and  Stature  and  in  Favour  with  God 
and  Man. 


152        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XVII. 

The  Charity  School  was  set  on  foot  before  the  first  term  had 
expired,  but  could  not  be  accomplished  without  a  proper  head. 
At  the  meeting  of  9  April,  1751  "The  Trustees  taking  into 
consideration  that,  by  their  Engagements,  the  Charity  School 
ought  to  be  open'd  very  speedily;  and  it  being  mentioned  that 
Mr.  Martin  had  recommended  some  person  in  Trenton  who 
was  well  qualified  for  Master  of  such  a  school,  the  President  is 
desired  to  speak  to  Mr.  Martin  to  write  to  that  person  in  order 
to  know  whether  he  will  accept  of  that  charge,  and  upon  what 
terms."  Mr.  Martin  wrote  in  compliance  with  this  request,  but 
at  the  May  meeting  he  was  not  able  to  report  an  answer.  At 
the  June  meeting  "  it  appearing  to  the  Trustees  that  the  Person 
formerly  proposed  for  Master  of  the  Charity  School,  is  not  so 
well  qualified  as  could  be  wished,  and  that  his  Terms  are  high, 
some  other  person  is  to  be  sought  for  to  undertake  that  charge." 
The  some  other  person  came  in  time  in  George  Price.  The 
Trustees  on  13  August,  1757,  reported  "having  made  a  pro- 
posal to  George  Price  to  teach  a  Charity  School  consisting  of 
twenty  Boys,  and  do  some  services  in  the  other  schools,  for  the 
consideration  of  Thirty  Pounds  per  annum,  to  be  paid  him, 
besides  his  House  Rent  and  Living  during  the  Winter  Season  ; 
which  proposal  he  desired  some  Time  to  consider  of.  But 
having  since  signified  his  Willingness  to  accept  of  the  Terms 
offer' d  him  the  President  is  requested  to  reduce  the  Agreement 
to  Writing,  and  get  the  said  Price  to  sign  it."  And  "  publick 
advertizement "  was  directed  to  be  made,  so  soon  as  the  Trus- 
tees were  ready  to  open  a  Charity  School.  Accordingly  the 
announcement  was  made  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  12 
September,  1751. 

By  Order  of  the  TRUSTEES  of  the  ACADEMY 

NOTICE  is  hereby  given,  That  on  Monday,  the  i6th  of  this  instant  Septem- 
ber, a  FREE-SCHOOL  will  be  open'  d  (under  their  Care  and  Direction)  at 
the  New  Building,  for  the  Instruction  of  poor  Children  gratis  in  Reading, 
Writing,  and  Arithmetic.  Those  who  are  desirous  of  having  their  chil- 
dren admitted,  may  apply  to  any  of  the  Trustees. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        153 

The  "some  services  in  the  other  schools  "  may  have  had 
reference  to  other  than  strictly  scholastic  services,  if  the  minute 
of  IO  September  is  any  indication  of  their  character. 

The  Trustees  considering  that  no  Reward,  except  having  Rent  free, 
has  been  yet  given  to  George  Price,  for  his  Care  and  Trouble  in  removing 
the  Rubbish  occasioned  by  Workmen,  sweeping  the  Schools,  making  and 
putting  out  the  fires,  and  other  services  performed  by  him,  from  the  first 
opening  of  the  Academy:  It  is  ordered,  That  the  Sum  of  Five  Pounds  be 
paid  to  the  said  George  Price  for  the  said  Services. 

His  efficiency  and  zeal  were  successful  in  the  management 
of  the  School,  as  on  12  April,  1752,  it  is  recorded  "The  Trus- 
tees being  willing  to  take  more  poor  Children  into  the  Charity 
School,  the  President  is  desired  to  make  Enquiry  for  some  fit 
Person  to  assist  the  Master  of  that  School."  And  at  the  June 
meeting,  "  Patrick  Carroll,  who  for  some  time  has  assisted  Mr. 
Price  in  the  Charity  School,  was  allowed  at  the  rate  of  Forty- 
five  pounds  per  annum  for  his  services  in  the  said  School."  Mr. 
Carroll  subsequently  became,  as  before  mentioned,  a  Tutor  in 
the  English  School,  his  place  was  supplied  12  December,  1752, 
by  Mr.  John  Ormsby,  "  who  offered  himself  as  a  tutor  in  the 
Charity  School,"  and  was  accepted,  and  on  like  terms  as  those 
paid  Carroll.  Mr.  Price  also  had  the  assistance  of  Mr.  A.  Dunn 
for  a  few  weeks,  he  being  paid  "  two  pounds,  twelve  shillings 
for  three  weeks  attendance  in  the  Charity  School,  his  affairs  now 
calling  him  beyond  Sea."  The  Charity  School  was  kept  before 
the  Community  and  public  means  were  availed  of  to  secure  a 
better  support  for  it.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  19  April, 
1753  tells  us  : 

Monday  last  an  Excellent  Sermon  was  preached  in  the  Academy 
Hall  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  PETERS,  on  the  Charity,  Necessity  and  Advantages 
of  providing  suitable  Means  of  Education  for  the  Children  of  the  Poor; 
when  a  Collection  was  made  towards  the  Support  of  the  Free  School  in  the 
Academy  amounting  to  ^95.12.8  Halfpenny. 


154        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XVIII. 

The  Trustees  did  not  weary  in  their  well  doing  ;  their 
meetings  were  well  attended,  the  faithful  President  being  always 
on  hand,  inspiring  the  others  to  worthy  motions  though  his  hand 
is  not  visible  ;  yet  sometimes  they  were  without  a  quorum,  and 
to  secure  this  it  was  on  21  April,  1752, 

Agreed  by  the  Trustees  present  to  pay  a  Fine  of  One  Shilling,  if  absent  at 
any  Meeting,  unless  such  Excuse  be  given  as  the  Majority  shall  judge 
reasonable.  The  Money  to  be  applied  towards  buying  Books,  Paper,  &c 
for  the  Scholars  in  the  Charity  School. 

This  was  affirmed  at  their  meeting  of  25  May,  1754,  but 
the  fine  was  then  made  absolute,  of  "  one  shilling,  to  be  laid  out 
in  paper,  quills,  books,  &c,  for  the  use  of  the  Charity  School." 
The  rule  obtaining  in  the  Constitutions  requiring  that  "  nothing 
be  transacted  by  the  Trustees  unless  it  be  voted  by  a  Majority 
of  the  whole  Number,  which  as  experience  has  been  found 
highly  inconvenient,  in  regard  to  the  difficulty  of  so  great  a 
Number's  meeting"  it  was  on  27  July,  1750 

Resolved,  Nemine  contradicente,  that  a  Majority  of  the  Trustees  met 
(that  Majority  not  being  less  than  seven,  or  on  a  meeting  of  seven  if  they 
all  agree)  shall  have  power  to  order  and  transact  any  business  relating  to 
the  Academy  or  its  Government  except  the  alteration  of  the  Constitutions  or 
making  Contracts,  whereby  the  Publick  money  may  be  expended. 

And  on  9  April,  1751  they  "agree  to  meet  the  second  Tuesday 
in  every  month.  The  time  of  Meeting  to  be  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon." 

The  Trustees  attention  to  the  well  being  of  the  Academy, 
even  to  many  of  its  minor  details,  brought  them  sometimes  to 
be  administrators  as  well  as  formulators  of  discipline ;  though 
this  may  have  been  more  notable  in  the  interregnum  between  the 
first  two  Rectorships.  It  was  on  1 1  February,  1752,"  Agreed,  that 
no  holidays  be  solicited  for  the  Boys  by  any  of  the  Trustees 
separately."  This  was  modified,  probably  under  the  judicious 
but  calculating  advice  of  the  new  Rector,  for  at  the  meeting  of 
21  April  following  it  was 
Agreed  unanimously  that  no  Holdiday  be  granted  to  the  Scholars  at  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        155 

requestof  any  Person,  unless  at  the  same  time  he  made  a  present  to  the 
Academy  of  a  Book  of  Ten  Shillings  value  :  The  Masters  to  be  made  ac- 
quainted with  this  Rule. 

Graydon  gives  some  account  of  the  pranks  of  the  boys 
when  he  attended  the  College  and  Academy,  a  few  years  later 
than  this,  which  certainly  were  not  new  in  his  day  ;  the  boys  of 
1751  were  but  the  forerunners  of  those  of  1760  and  of  many 
succeeding  years.  The  only  reference  to  their  doings  in  the 
formal  minutes  of  the  Trustees  may  be  the  entry  of  I  5  Novem- 
ber 1752,  "Agreed  that  a  small  Ladder  be  bought,  to  be  always 
at  hand  for  the  Conveniency  of  mending  the  Windows."  Per- 
haps the  person  who  broke  one  of  the  new  street  lamps  in  the 
preceding  October  with  an  apple  was  a  matriculant  at  the  Acad- 
emy, and  led  his  classmates  in  practice  on  the  windows  of  the 
New  Building,  to  repair  which  it  was  found  convenient  to  keep 
a  ladder  "  always  at  hand  for  the  conveniency  of  mending 
them." 


XIX. 

Death  entered  early  among  the  Trustees,  for  James  Logan 
and  Thomas  Hopkinson  died  within  a  few  days  of  each  other, 
the  one  on  31  October  and  the  other  on  5  November,  1751,  and 
in  less  than  six  weeks  the  Rector  was  numbered  with  them. 
Both  were  a  loss  to  their  associates,  and  to  Franklin  especially 
the  death  of  Hopkinson  must  have  left  a  vacancy  in  his  own 
circle  of  friends  difficult  of  replacement,  for  they  had  been  asso- 
ciated together  in  matters  of  science  and  of  beneficence.  The 
Trustees  met  on  12  December,  1751,  and  proceeded  to  fill  the 
vacancies  without  any  note  or  comment,  no  encomium  or  eulogy 
expressed  the  sense  of  their  loss.  "  Two  of  the  Trustees,  to 
wit,  James  Logan,  Esqr  and  Thomas  Hopkinson  being  deceased, 
Isaac  Norris,  Esq  and  Thomas  Cadwalader  were  chosen  in  their 


156       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Room,  by  a  Majority  of  Votes."  The  influence  wielded  by 
Logan  on  behalf  of  the  Academy  could  well  be  carried  on  by 
his  son-in-law,  Isaac  Norris,  the  foremost  Friend  of  his  day ; 
and  Hopkinson's  tastes  for  science  would  find  just  representa- 
tion in  Cadwalader  who  a  few  years  later  could  exert  his  in- 
fluence toward  the  development  of  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  College  and  Academy.  Some  notice  of  these  two  promi- 
nent worthies  must  be  given  here,  before  we  look  further  into 
the  work  of  the  growing  institution  in  whose  direction  they 
were  now  to  participate. 

ISAAC  NORRIS,  son  of  Isaac  Norris,  the  Councillor,  was 
born  in  Philadelphia,  3  October,  1701.  His  father  brought  him 
up  to  a  mercantile  life,  after  fitting  him  by  a  trained  education 
to  take  his  proper  place  among  his  fellows 

He  was  endowed  with  good  natural  abilities,  had  received  an  excellent 
education,  and  might  indeed  be  called  learned  ;  for,  in  addition  to  a 
knowledge  of  Hebrew,  he  wrote  in  Latin  and  French  with  ease,  and  his 
reading  was  extensive.  He  possessed  a  fine  library  containing  many  of 
the  best  editions  of  the  classics,  and  was  a  liberal  patron  of  literature. 1 

He  had  twice  visited  Europe  for  travel,  and  in  1743  he  retired 
from  mercantile  life,  and  as  he  expressed  it  "lived  downright  in 
the  country  way."  But  before  this  his  talents  and  aptitude  for 
public  affairs,  call  them  politics  if  you  will,  brought  him  before 
his  fellow  townsmen  prominently,  and  he  had  been  sent  to  the 
Assembly  in  1734.  He  here  encountered  as  a  staunch  Friend 
the  demands  of  the  provincial  government  for  money  to  arm  the 
colony  against  the  foreign  enemy,  and  resisted  and  successfully 
opposed  the  requisition.  He  became  the  leader  of  the  Quaker 
party.  The  Proprietaries  now  were  Churchmen  and  personally 
had  lost  the  respect  of  their  great  ancestor's  co-religionists. 
The  Friends  had  in  1710  granted  a  sum  to  Queen  Anne  for  the 
reduction  of  Canada,  but  it  was  accompanied  by  an  explanation 
that  their  principles  forbad  war,  but  commanded  them  to  pay 
tribute  and  yield  obedience  to  the  power  God  had  set  over  them 
in  all  things  so  far  as  their  religious  persuasions  would  permit. 
But  now,  they  were  not  willing  to  place  funds  for  such  purpose 

1  Geo.  W.  Norris,  M.  D.,  in  Penn'a  Magazine^  i.  449. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNYSLVANIA.        157 

in  the  hands  and  power  of  the  Governor  and  his  friends.  But 
finally  in  1739,  the  Assembly  yielded  to  the  importunities 
for  money,  and  voted  ^3000,  to  Isaac  Norris,  his  brother  in 
law  Thomas  Griffitts,  Thomas  Leech,  John  Stamper  and  Edward 
Bradley,  "for  the  use  of  King  George  II."  There  were  now 
beginning  the  dissensions  arising  out  of  the  claims  of  the  Pro- 
prietaries that  all  their  lands  should  be  exempt  from  provincial 
taxation,  which  grew  into  a  grave  occasion  of  opposition  to  their 
government  in  time,  and  the  tie  of  religion  being  sundered,  this 
opposition  to  the  Proprietaries  on  account  of  their  exceeding 
selfishness  eventually  placed  Pennsylvania  in  the  front  of  the 
contests  of  the  Revolution.  Norris  was  a  member  also  of  the 
Assemblies  of  1740  and  1741,  and  in  1742,  in  the  latter  year 
occurring  the  riotous  scene  at  the  election,  due  it  was  said  to 
the  machinations  of  the  Governor,  in  which  however  Norris  was 
returned  to  the  Assembly.  In  1745  he  was  with  Kinsey  and 
Lawrence  appointed  by  the  Governor  a  commissioner  to  repre- 
sent Pennsylvania  at  the  conference  with  the  Indians  at  Albany. 
And  in  1755  he  was  again  sent  to  Albany  as  a  like  commissioner 
to  treat  with  the  Indians. 

Continuing  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  he  succeeded  John 
Kinsey  as  Speaker  in  September  1751,  and  in  that  year  he 
directed  the  legend  for  the  new  State  House  Bell  which  became 
so  prophetic,  though  perhaps  at  the  time  he  would  have  shrunk 
from  the  application  made  of  it  in  1776.  He  continued  Speaker 
of  the  House  fifteen  years.  The  contest  between  the  people 
and  the  Proprietaries  grew  during  this  period,  and  Norris  at  the 
head  of  the  Quakers  was  firmly  opposed  to  their  privileges  as 
they  claimed  them.  In  1757,  the  Assembly  resolved  to  send 
him  and  Franklin  to  England  to  solicit  the  removal  of  griev- 
ances arising  out  of  the  Proprietary  instructions  to  their  Gover- 
nors, such  as  forbidding  them  to  sanction  any  bill  for  the  reve- 
nue which  did  not  exempt  their  property  from  taxation  and  the 
like  ;  but  on  account  of  ill  health  he  declined  the  appointment, 
so  that  Franklin  undertook  it  alone.  His  opposition  to  their 
encroachments,  however,  did  not  lead  him  to  desire  the 
exchange  of  a  Royal  Government  for  a  Proprietary,  and  when 


158        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

in  1764  a  petition  to  this  effect  passed  the  Assembly,  he  resigned 
the  Speakership,  rather  than  as  Speaker  sign  the  petition  to  the 
Crown  for  the  change  and  Franklin  was  chosen  Speaker  in  his 
place  and  signed  the  petition.  Franklin  could  see  no  remedy 
for  the  trouble  but  in  the  substitution  of  a  Royal  Government 
in  the  place  of  one  by  a  privileged  Family  ;  but  not  many  years 
elapsed  before  he  himself  acknowledged  that  there  was  as  little 
dependence  to  be  placed  upon  the  so  called  paternal  govern- 
ment of  a  King.  It  was  in  this  contest  that  we  find  Franklin's 
mind  developing  those  great  principles  which  he  eventually  had 
to  apply  to  our  national  affairs  and  which  became  in  the  logic 
of  events  the  unanswerable  argument  for  our  Independence, 
while  such  men  as  Norris  and  his  son-in-law  John  Dickinson, 
alike  pure  and  patriotic  as  was  Franklin,  stopped  short  of  the 
realisation  of  those  principles  of  true  Government  which  all  of 
English  blood  are  expected  to  uphold.  By  the  strange  contra- 
rieties of  popular  suffrage,  Franklin  was  not  returned  to  the 
next  assembly,  only  however  by  a  minority  of  twenty-five  in  a 
vote  of  nearly  four  thousand,  while  Norris,  who  contrary  to  his 
wishes  had  been  placed  on  the  County  Ticket  was  again  chosen 
to  the  Assembly,  and  again  became  the  Speaker,  while  Frank- 
lin, the  majority  in  the  Assembly  remaining  unbroken,  was 
chosen  Colonial  Agent  and  carried  abroad  the  petition  for 
redress  against  the  claims  of  the  Proprietaries.  Isaac  Norris 
shortly  again  resigned  the  Speakership  on  24  October  1764; 
and  on  13  July,  1776,  he  died  at  his  seat,  Fair  Hill.  It  was 
justly  said  of  him  by  a  cotemporary,  "That  in  all  his  long 
public  career  he  never  asked  a  vote  to  get  into  the  House,  or 
solicited  any  member  for  posts  of  advantage  or  employment." 
His  public  duties  forbad  him,  in  the  want  of  robust  health, 
from  attending  with  any  diligence  to  the  duties  of  his  Trustee- 
ship of  the  College  and  Academy,  and  his  service  therein  con- 
tinued less  than  four  years.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of 
1 1  February,  1755,  this  minute  appears  : 

As  Isaac  Norris,  Esqr  had  never  met  the  Trustees  but  once  since  his 
being  chosen,  and,  it  was  said,  had  intimated  he  could  not  conveniently 
attend  at  their  Meetings,  Mr.  Peters  was  desired  to  write  to  him,  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        1 59 

acquaint  him  that  the  Trustees  were  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  new  Charter 
confirming  the  former  with  some  Additions,  and  were  desirous  to  know 
whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  him  that  his  Name  should  be  inserted 
therein. 

Mr.  Peters  produced  his  reply  at  the  next  meeting,  which 
was  as  follows  ;  and  which  was 

order' d  to  be  enter' d  on  the  Minutes. 
Respected  Friend,  Richard  Peters 

I  can  have  no  Objection  to  the  Qualification  to  the  Govrm  as  we  take 
it  every  year  before  we  are  instituted  to  our  Seats  in  the  Assembly,  neither 
have  I  any  objection  to  any  other  Part  of  the  Academical  Institution,  but 
heartily  wish  you  success  in  it  My  Distance  from  Town,  and  the  Ails  I 
have,  make  it  very  inconvenient  to  me  to  attend  the  Duty  of  a  Trustee, 
and  therefore  I  request  the  Gent' n  will  be  pleased  to  accept  my  Resignation 
of  that  Trust. 

I  return  them  my  Thanks  for  the  Favours  they  have  already  shewn 
me  by  inserting  my  Name  in  their  former  Charter,  and  am  Their  and 

Yr  Assd  Fr'd 
Feby  25  1755  ISAAC  NORRIS. 

On  a  previous  page  was  narrated  his  connection  with  the 
Friends  Publick  School,  and  the  cause  of  their  desire  for  his 
resignation  from  the  Board  of  Overseers.  Strong  Friend  as  he 
always  was,  he  was  unwilling  to  confine  his  influence  in  the 
favor  of  a  public  education  to  the  seemingly  narrow  limits  his 
Society  had  marked  out  for  the  instruction  of  their  Youth. 

His  two  sons  died  in  infancy.  His  daughter  Mary  became 
the  wife  of  John  Dickinson,  the  famous  author  of  A  Farmer's 
Letters,  and  whose  Mother  was  sister  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwal- 
ader.  It  was  while  Dickinson  was  President  of  Pennsylvania, 
that  he  "  presented  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  with  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  library  of  the  late  Isaac  Norris,  Esq.,  consisting 
of  about  1500  volumes  upon  the  most  important  subjects."2 

DK.  THOMAS  CADWALADER  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1707 
the  son  of  John  Cadwalader,  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  from 
Pembrokeshire  and  married  in  1699  the  daughter  of  Dr  Edward 
Jones  of  Lower  Merion,  then  in  Philadelphia  County,  one  of  the 


1  Penn'a  Gazttte,  27  Octo.,  1784. 


160        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

earliest  practitioners  of  medicine  in  the  Province.  Young  Cad- 
walader  received  his  early  education  at  the  Friends  Publick 
School  then  under  the  charge  of  Thomas  Makin.  Later,  his 
father  sent  him  to  England  to  pursue  his  studies  as  a  physician, 
spending  a  year  in  the  study  of  anatomy  under  Chesselden  and 
returning  home  about  1731.  He  at  once  took  an  active  part  in 
practical  movements,  and  as  he  was  about  the  age  of  Franklin, 
perhaps  the  youngest  of  the  coterie  which  gathered  around  him, 
he  was  drawn  into  the  same  line  of  activities,  and  at  once  threw 
his  interests  with  those  who  were  then  forming  the  new  Library 
company,  in  which  he  was  a  Director  many  years.  Watson3 
names  him  as  one  of  the  physicians  inoculating  for  the  small 
pox  in  the  Winter  of  1736—7,  others  being  Doctors  Zachary, 
Shippen,  and  Bond,  afterwards  his  fellow  Trustees  in  the  Academy 
and  College. 

Marrying  in  1738  a  daughter  of  John  Lambert  of  New 
Jersey,  he  appears  to  have  taken  up  his  residence  in  that  province 
about  that  time,  and  when  in  1746  Governor  Belcher  granted  a 
Borough  charter  to  Trenton,  he  was  chosen  the  first  Burgess. 
When  four  years  later  the  citizens  surrendered  this  charter,  Dr 
Cadwalader  shortly  thereafter  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  upon 
the  death  of  Thomas  Hopkinson  he  was  chosen  12  November, 
1751,  upon  Franklin's  nomination,  a  Trustee  of  the  Academy  to 
succeed  him  ;  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Common  Council  of  Philadelphia  and  there  served  until 
1774.  In  1755  he  was  called  to  the  Provincial  Council  at  the 
same  time  as  were  John  Mifflin  and  Benjamin  Chew  who  a  few 
years  later  became  his  fellow  Trustees.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Philosophical  Society  for  many  years,  and  in  1765  became  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  Council ;  and  during  the  Revolution 
became  a  Medical  Director  in  the  Army.  As  one  of  the  physi- 
cians to  the  new  Hospital,  he  gave  there  a  course  of  medical 
lectures.4  He  was  a  signer  of  the  Non-Importation  Article  in 
1765,  but  his  age  precluded  him  from  an  active  participation  in 


3  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  i.  373. 

4  "  In  1750  he  had  the  honor  of  preparing  the  first  systematic  course  of  Medi- 
cal lectures  to  be  delivered  in  a  Philadelphia  College."     Dr.  Morton,  pp.  446,  458. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        161 

the  affairs  of  the  Revolution.  In  July,  1776,  he  was  appointed 
by  the  Committee  of  Safety  with  Drs.  Bond,  Shippen,  jr,  and 
Rush  a  committee  for  the  examination  of  all  the  candidates  who 
applied  to  be  surgeons  in  the  Navy  ;  and  he  was  also  appointed 
a  Medical  Director  of  the  Army  Hospitals,  and  in  1778  suc- 
ceeded the  elder  Dr.  Shippen  as  Surgeon  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital. 

Though  a  resident  of  Philadelphia  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life,  Dr  Cadwalader  retained  his  farm  near  Trenton,  called 
Greenwood,  to  which  he  frequently  resorted,  and  here  he  died  14 
November,  1779,  but  two  months  after  the  abrogation  of  the 
charter  of  the  Academy  and  College  of  which  he  had  been  a  dili- 
gent and  faithful  Trustee  for  nearly  twenty  eight  years.  Though 
he  and  his  wife,  who  survived  him  seven  years,  remained  Friends 
all  their  lives,  their  only  sons  John  and  Lambert  both  distin- 
guished themselves  in  the  military  service  of  the  Revolution. 
The  elder,  Gen.  John  Cadwalader,  was  elected  a  Trustee  on 
his  father's  death.  Both  these  sons  were  "  entered  "  by  him  in 
the  Academy  and  College  in  1751  at  its  opening. 


1 62       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XX. 

The  Trustees  lost  no  time   in   looking  for  a  supply  to  the 
vacancy  caused   by  Mr.  Martin's   death.     Twenty-one  of  their 
number  were  present  at  the    meeting   on   1 1    December,  1751 
including  the   new  Trustee   Dr.   Cadwalader,  "to   consider  of 
some  Person  to  supply  "  Mr.  Martin's  place 

in  the  Latin  School,  and  it  being  said  that  Mr.  Allison,  a  gentleman  of  good 
Learning  in  Chester  County  had  lately  expressed  some  Inclination  to  be 
employed  in  that  School,  Mr.  Francis  was  desired  to  write  to  him,  to  know 
whether  he  was  yet  so  inclined,  and  upon  what  Terms  he  would  undertake 
the  charge  thereof. 

At  a  Meeting  held  on  28  December  it  was  reported  by  Mr. 
Allen 

that  Mr.  Francis  Alison  had  been  in  Town,  and  that  himself,  and  some 
others  of  the  Trustees  have  had  some  Conversation  with  him,  and  though 
he  seemed  diffident  of  undertaking  the  charge  of  the  Latin  School,  he  had 
promised  however  to  be  in  Town  again  by  the  7th  of  January  next,  and 
attend  School  for  a  month  upon  Trial. 

He  entered  upon  his  duties  at  the  time  named,  and  ful- 
filled the  promise  of  his  reputation,  and  remained  ;  his  salary  at 
the  March  meeting  being  set  at  £200  per  annum,  the  same 
as  his  predecessor's  was.  His  former  pupil,  Charles  Thom- 
son, must  have  been  the  source  of  the  Trustees'  information 
regarding  this  celebrated  teacher  ;  and  his  name  being  submitted 
when  Dr.  Cadwalader  was  present,  the  latter  could  speak  intelli- 
gently of  the  man  who  had  been  tutor  in  the  family  of  his  sister 
Dickinson.  Mr.  Alison's  diffidence,  referred  to  in  the  Minutes, 
continued  many  months,  and  his  final  assumption  of  the  Rector- 
ship cannot  be  determined.  In  his  letter  of  2  July,  1752  to 
Rev.  Dr.  Johnson,  Franklin  speaking  of  the  Academy,  says : 

Our  Academy,  which  you  so  kindly  inquire  after,  goes  on  well. 
Since  Mr.  Martin's  death  the  Latin  and  Greek  School  has  been  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  Alison,  a  Dissenting  minister,  well  skilled  in  those  languages 
and  long  practiced  in  teaching .  But  he  refused  the  Rectorship,  or  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  government  of  the  other  schools.  So  that  remains 
vacant,  and  obliges  the  Trustees  to  more  frequent  visits.  We  have  now 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       163 

several  young  gentlemen  desirous  of  entering  on  the  study  of  Philosophy, 
and  Lectures  are  to  be  opened  this  week.  Mr.  Alison  undertakes  Logic 
and  Ethics,  making  your  work  his  text  to  comment  and  lecture  upon. 
Mr.  Peters  and  some  other  gentlemen  undertake  the  other  branches,  till 
we  shall  be  provided  with  a  Rector  capable  of  the  whole,  who  may  attend 
wholly  to  the  instructions  of  youth  in  the  higher  parts  of  learning  as  they 
come  out  fitted  from  the  lower  schools. 

FRANCIS  ALISON  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Lac,  County 
Donegal,  in  the  year  1705.  He  received  an  excellent  edu- 
cation at  an  academy  under  the  particular  inspection  of 
the  Bishop  of  Raphoe,  and  was  subsequently  a  student  for 
some  years  at  the  University  of  Glasgow.  He  came  to 
America  in  1/35,  and  his  first  educational  work  was  as 
tutor  in  the  family  of  Samuel  Dickinson  of  Talbot  County, 
Maryland.  Whether  he  remained  there  long  enough  to 
have  any  training  of  the  young  John  Dickinson  is  doubtful. 
In  1737  he  was  ordained  by  the  New  Castle  Presbytery, 
Delaware,  and  installed  pastor  of  the  New  London  con- 
gregation, Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued 
fifteen  years.  At  this  latter  place  he  opened  an  Academy  in 
1743.  Upon  this  school  of  his  creation,  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia in  1744  engrafted  the  grammar  school  which  they  took 
measures  to  establish  on  a  permanent  foundation,  with  special 
reference  to  training  young  men  for  the  ministry.  Mr.  Alison 
was  made  Principal,  and  it  became  a  justly  celebrated  institu- 
tion, and  served  not  only  the  purposes  of  the  Synod  in  pre- 
paring well  qualified  ministers,  but  furnished  the  State  with 
trained  civilians;  among  these  were  Charles  Thomson,  Dr.  Ewing, 
Hugh  Williamson,  and  James  Latta,  and  of  Signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  Thomas  McKean,  George  Read 
and  James  Smith.  This  Academy  was  eventually  removed  to 
Newark,  Delaware,  and  became  the  foundation  of  Delaware 
College. l  When  Mr.  Martin  the  Rector  of  the  new  Academy 
died,  he  was  attracted  to  Philadelphia  and  was  asked  to  take 
his  place,  but  this  caused  the  severance  from  his  pastoral  charge 


1  Wickersham,  iii. 


164       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  his  school  and  in  an  irregular  way,  which  however  the  Pres- 
bytery condoned  as  in  a  great  measure  excusable  on  account  of 
the  pressing  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed  at  New 
London,  it  being  almost  impracticable  for  him  to  apply  for  the 
consent  of  the  Presbytery  or  the  Synod  in  the  usual  way.  He 
ramained  in  the  faithful  charge  of  his  duties,  and  under  the 
charter  of  i/55  creating  the  College,  he  became  Vice-Provost. 
It  was  at  the  meeting  of  10  December,  1754,  that  he 
joined  with  William  Smith,  then  Professor  of  "Logick,  Rheto- 
rick,  Ethicks,  and  Natural  Philosophy "  in  submitting  the 
thought  of  a  College  : 

It  being  represented  by  Mr.  Alison  and  Mr.  Smith  that  it  would 
probably  be  a  Means  of  advancing  the  Reputation  of  the  Academy,  if  the 
Professors  had  a  Power  of  conferring  Degrees  upon  such  Students  as  had 
made  a  suitable  proficiency  in  Learning  to  merit  that  Distinction  ;  and 
that  several  ingenious  young  Men,  not  finding  that  Testimony  of  their 
Acquirements  to  be  had  here  had  left  the  Academy  on  that  Account:  The 
Trustees  considering  that  such  honorary  Distinctions  might  be  an  Incite- 
ment to  Learning,  and  having  Reason  to  believe  the  Governor,  if  applied 
to,  would  readily  grant  the  Power  of  conferring  them,  desired  Mr.  Alison 
and  Mr.  Smith  to  draw  up  a  Clause  to  be  added  to  the  Charter  for  that 
Purpose,  and  lay  it  before  the  Trustees  at  their  next  meeting. 

This  was  done  ;  but  the  subsequent  steps  in  securing  the 
Charter  of  1755  will  be  narrated  in  future  pages.  On  13  April, 
1756,  a  minute  records  he  was 

appointed  Professor  of  the  higher  classics,  Logic,  Metaphysicks  and  Geogra- 
phy, and  that  he  teach  any  of  the  other  Arts  and  Sciences  that  he  may  judge 
himself  qualified  to  teach,  as  the  circumstances  of  the  Philosophy  Schools 
may  require  ;  but  if  it  so  happen  that  Mr.  Smith  can  spare  time  from  his 
Employment  in  the  other  Branches  of  Literature  to  teach  any  of  these 
Branches,  then  and  in  that  case  Mr.  Alison  shall  employ  the  overplus  of 
his  Time  as  usual  in  the  Grammar  School  in  the  Capacity  of  Chief  Master. 

Besides  his  duties  at  the  Academy,  he  continued  his  cleri- 
cal work  as  assistant  minister  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Philadelphia.  Yale  College  in  1755,  two  years  after  Franklin 
had  received  his  degree,  and  Princeton  in  1756  conferred  upon 
him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  and  in  1758  the  University 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       165 

of  Glasgow  made  him  Doctor  of  Divinity.  Dr.  Sprague  says, 
"  so  highly  was  this  latter  honour  then  appreciated,  that  the 
Synod  to  which  Mr.  Alison  belonged,  made  a  formal  acknowl- 
edgment of  it  to  the  University."  In  1765  his  former  congre- 
gation at  New  London,  who  had  remained  without  a  Pastor 
since  he  left  them,  asked  him  to  return  and  resume  his  labors 
among  them  ;  but  this  he  declined.  He  was  then  three  score 
years  of  age,  and  preferred  ending  his  life  in  the  performance  of 
his  present  engagements.  He  died  28  November,  1779,  *wo 
months  after  the  hostile  Legislature  had  abrogated  the  charter 
of  his  College  and  Academy.  Had  his  energies  and  life  been 
spared,  his  influential  connection  with  the  Institution  would 
have  disarmed  the  political  enemies  of  the  institution  of  much 
of  the  force  of  their  attack,  and  indeed  might  have  stayed  the 
thought  of  abrogation  until  calmer  and  juster  thoughts  would 
have  found  their  sway. 

It  was  in  1755  that  Dr.  Alison  made  a  journey  to  New 
England,  John  Bartram  being  his  fellow  traveler.  Franklin  had 
written  I  September,  1755,  a  letter2  introducing  them  to  his 
friend  Jared  Eliot : 

I  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  and  now  I  write  again.  You  will  say,  // 
can' t  rain,  but  it  pours ;  for  I  not  only  send  you  manuscript,  but  living 
letters.  The  former  may  be  short,  but  the  latter  will  be  longer  and  yet 
more  agreeable.  Mr.  Bartram  I  believe  you  will  find  to  be  at  least  twenty 
folio  pages,  large  paper  well  filled,  on  the  subjects  of  botany,  fossils,  hus- 
bandry, and  the  first  creation.  This  Mr.  Alison  is  as  many  or  more  on 
agriculture,  philosophy,  your  own  Catholic  divinity,  and  various  other 
points  of  learning  equally  useful  and  engaging.  Read  them  both.  It 
will  take  you  at  least  a  week;  and  then  answer,  by  sending  me  two  of  the 
like  kind,  or  by  coming  yourself. 

The  testimonies  of  two  of  his  pupils  show  him  to  have 
been  a  remarkable  man  in  natural  powers  and  trained  gifts,  and 
his  influence  in  the  College  and  Academy  was  greatly  felt  in  its 
development,  and  in  the  faculty  he  was  second  only  to  William 
Smith  in  learning  and  force.  The  University  owes  very  much 
in  its  early  nurture  to  its  second  Rector,  the  faithful  and  diligent 

*  Bigelow,  ii.  413. 


1 66        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Presbyterian  divine,  Francis  Alison.     Dr.  Ewing,  in  his  funeral 
sermon,  says  of  him  : 

Blessed  with  a  clear  understanding  and  an  extensive  liberal  educa- 
tion, thirsting  for  knowledge,  and  indefatigable  in  study,  through  the 
whole  of  his  useful  life,  he  acquired  an  unusual  fund  of  learning  and  knowl- 
edge, which  rendered  his  conversation  remarkably  instructive,  and  abun- 
dantly qualified  him  for  the  sacred  work  of  the  ministry,  and  the  faithful 
instruction  of  youth  in  the  College.  *  *  *  All  who  knew  him  acknowl- 
edge that  he  was  frank,  open  and  ingenuous  in  his  natural  temper  ;  warm 
and  zealous  in  his  friendships  ;  catholic  and  enlarged  in  his  sentiments  ;  a 
friend  to  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  *  *  *  he  has  left  behind  him  a 
lasting  testimony  of  the  extensive  benevolence  of  his  heart  in  planning, 
erecting  and  nursing,  with  constant  attention  and  tenderness,  the  charitable 
scheme  of  the  widows'  fund,  by  which  many  helpless  orphans  and  destitute 
widows  have  been  seasonably  relieved  and  supported,  and  will,  we  trust, 
continue  to  be  relieved  and  supported,  so  long  as  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  shall  exist. 

Bishop  White,  in  briefer  phrase,  gives  a  picture  of  his  old 
professor : 

Dr.  Alison  was  a  man  of  unquestionable  ability  in  his  department,  of 
real  and  rational  piety,  of  a  liberal  mind  ; — his  failing  was  a  proneness  to 
anger  ;  but  it  was  forgotten, — for  he  was  placable  and  affable.3 

In  his  journey  to  New  England  in  1755,  he  visited  Pro- 
fessor Stiles  at  Newport,  who  says  of  him  : 

He  is  the  greatest  classical  Scholar  in  America,  especially  in  Greek — 
not  great  in  Mathematics,  Philosophy  and  Astronomy,  but  in  Ethics,  His- 
tory and  general  reading,  is  a  great  literary  character. 

Provost  Smith  in  his  account  of  the  College  and  Academy 
in  the  American  Magazine  for  October,  1758,  says  he 

has  long  been  employed  in  the  education  of  youth  in  this  province,  and 
many  of  those  who  now  make  a  considerable  figure  in  it  have  been  bred 
under  him.  He  was  one  of  the  first  persons  in  this  country,  who,  foresee- 
ing the  ignorance  into  which  it  was  like  to  fall,  set  up  a  regular  school  of 
education  in  it  ;  and  so  sensible  were  that  learned  and  respectable  body, 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  of  his  pious  and  faithful  labour  for  the  propa- 
gation of  useful  knowledge  in  these  untutored  parts,  that  they  lately  hon- 
ored him  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  sent  him  without  any 
solicitation  on  his  part,  and  even  without  his  knowledge. 

*  Memoirs >  1 8. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       167 

XXL 

The  young  tutors  Barton  and  Duche  have  been  already 
named.  No  minute  appears  recording  the  appointment  of 
Thomas  Barton,  though  by  the  Treasurer's  accounts  he  was  on 
duty  and  received  a  salary  of  ^50  per  annum  as  early  as 
November,  1752,  and  the  Trustees  voted  him  17  November, 
1753,  an  augmentation  of  .£10.  Jacob  Duche's  nomination 
was  due  to  the  order  of  the  Trustees,  13  February,  1753,  "the 
number  of  Scholars  in  the  Latin  School  being  greatly  increased, 
it  is  resolved  that  another  Usher  be  provided  with  all  convenient 
speed,"  and  on  17  November,  1753,  he  was  granted  a  salary  of 
,£40  per  annum,  the  Treasurer's  accounts  showing  he  had  been 
then  six  months  on  duty.  This  young  man,  but  just  fifteen 
years  of  age,  continued,  but  without  formal  appointment, 
eighteen  months  in  this  work,  as  Mr.  Coleman's  entries  charge 
him  with  no  payments  after  August,  1754.  It  interfered  with 
his  duties  as  a  scholar  preparing  for  a  degree,  which  he  obtained 
with  honor  at  the  first  commencement  in  1757.  His  talents 
secured  his  election  as  Professor  of  Oratory  in  December,  1759, 
and  he  was  further  honored  by  the  election  as  a  trustee  in 
February,  1761,  in  the  room  of  William  Masters  who  had  died 
in  the  November  previous.  Some  acc6unt  of  his  ecclesiastical, 
political,  and  literary  life  may  be  found  in  place  when  we  con- 
sider him  as  a  Trustee. 

THOMAS  BARTON,  born  in  Ireland  in  1730,  of  English 
parentage,  was  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  when 
about  twenty  years  of  age  came  to  this  country  and  opened  a 
school  in  Norriton  township,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Rittenhouse  family.  The 
following  year  he  accepted  the  tutorship  in  the  Academy,  and 
he  here  continued  until  1754,  when  at  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees 
on  the  1 3th  August  "  having  by  letter  directed  to  them  signified 
his  Design  of  leaving  the  School  and  going  into  Orders;  they 
consented  to  his  Dismission  in  a  Month  or  two,  agreeable  to  his 
Request."  He  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  29 


1 68        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

January,  1755,  and  returning  to  Philadelphia  in  the  following 
April,  he  shortly  entered  on  his  duties  as  Missionary  in  Hunt- 
ingdon County,  Pennsylvania,  from  whence  he  ministered  at 
York,  and  Carlisle  and  Shippensburg.  His  interest  in  the 
Indians  was  warmly  aroused,  but  the  defeat  of  Braddock  marred 
his  plans  for  usefulness  among  them.  He  became  Chaplain  to 
General  Forbes  in  his  expedition  of  1758.  For  nearly  twenty 
years  he  was  Rector  of  St.  James  Church,  Lancaster,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  his  life  was  full  of  untiring  activities  in  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. In  the  Revolution  he  felt  that  his  oath  of  allegiance  as  a 
minister  bound  him  to  England,  and  he  parted  with  all  his 
interests  in  Pennsylvania,  and  arrived  within  the  British  lines  in 
New  York  in  1778.  He  died  25  May,  1780,  and  was  interred 
in  the  chancel  of  St.  George's  Church,  New  York.  He  preached 
a  notable  sermon  on  Braddock's  Defeat,  which  with  an  intro- 
ductory letter  by  Provost  Smith  received  a  very  extended  cir- 
culation, entitled  Unanimity  and  Publick  Spirit.  He  had  sought 
Mr.  Smith's  judgment  upon  it  and  asked  his  views 

on  the  office  and  duty  of  Protestant  ministers,  and  the  right  of  exercising 
their  pulpit  liberty  in  the  handling  and  treating  of  civil  as  well  as  religious 
affairs,  and  more  especially  in  times  of  public  danger  and  calamity.1 

This  embodied  a  reference  to  the  Friends  then  in  power  in 
the  Assembly  who  were  opposed  to  all  warfare  defensive  as  well 
as  offensive.  And  the  Provost  enclosing  a  copy  of  this  produc- 
tion to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  informs  him 

upon  the  general  consternation  that  followed  General  Braddock's  Defeat, 
I  wrote  to  the  Missionaries  on  the  Frontiers  as  far  as  I  knew  them,  exhort- 
ing them  to  make  a  noble  Stand  for  liberty,  and  vindicating  the  office  and 
Duties  of  a  Protestant  Ministry  against  all  the  Objections  of  the  Quakers 
and  other  Spiritualists  who  are  against  all  clergy.2 

As  we  use  the  latter  word  to-day,  such  association  would 
not  be  sought  by  the  former  now.  It  may  well  be  granted, 
however,  that  the  Friends  were  consistent,  and  that  had  the 
whole  community  been  permeated  with  the  just  principles  of 
which  they  claimed  to  be  the  exponent,  there  would  have  existed 


1  Mr.  Smith's  letter  is  given  at  full  in  his  Life  and  Correspondence,  i,  llo-llS. 

2  Life  and  Correspondence,  i.  119. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        169 

no  hostility  or  treachery  among  the  Indians,  and  the  frontiers 
would  have  had  the  defence  of  righteousness.  John  Penn,  the 
Proprietary,  said  of  Barton  : 

Nor  has  he  done  anything  in  the  military  way  but  what  hath  increased 
his  character  for  piety,  and  that  of  a  sincerely  religious  man  and  zealous 
minister.  In  short  he  is  a  most  worthy,  active  and  serviceable  Pastor  and 
Missionary. 

Mr.  Barton  married  in  1753  a  sister  of  David  Rittenhouse. 
The  College  and  Academy  conferred  on  him  in  1760  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  and  the  same  was  conferred  by  Kings  College 
in  1770.  His  son  Benjamin  Smith  Barton  was  in  1789  elected 
Professor  of  Natural  History  and  Botany  in  the  College,  and  in 
1813  from  that  was  made  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  the 
University.  And  his  grandson  William  P.  C.  Barton  was  chosen 
Professor  of  Botany,  in  1816,  succeeding  his  uncle,  whose  death 
occurred  in  1815. 

In  his  son's  Memoirs  of  David  Rittenhouse  it  is  said  that 
his  death 

put  a  period  to  the  sincere  and  intimate  friendship  between  that  gentleman 
and  Mr  Rittenhouse,  which  had  subsisted  almost  thirty  years.  This  friend- 
ship, which  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  almost  in  the  youth  of  both 
parties,  continued  without  interruption  until  the  year  1776;  when  the 
declaration  of  American  independence  produced,  unhappily,  some  abate- 
ment of  it  on  each  side  ;  at  least,  so  far  as  related  to  that  great  political 
measure,  respecting  which  they  entertained  different  opinions.  For, 
although  Mr.  Barton  was,  in  truth,  warmly  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
English  Whigs  ;  and  had,  on  various  occasions,  manifested  his  zeal  for  the 
liberties  of  the  American  people  and  rights  of  the  colonists  ;  his  opinions 
were  conscientiously  opposed,  and  only  these,  to  the  expediency  of  that 
measure.  Yet,  it  is  believed,  that  the  personal  friendship  of  these  intimate 
relatives  was  far  from  having  ever  subsided  ;  the  ties  that  early  united  them, 
were  of  the  strongest  kind  ;  that  union  was  of  long  continuance  ;  and  they 
were  mutually  sensible  of  each  other's  worth  and  talents.8 

The  loyal  obituary  notice  of  him  which  appeared  in  the 
Royal  Gazette,  31  May,  1780,  is  worthy  of  record  here  : 

On  Thursday  the  2$th  inst.  departed  this  life  aged  50  years,  the  Rev- 
erend THOMAS  BARTON,  A.  M.,  the  Society's  Missionary  for  Lancaster,  in 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania.  This  worthy  Clergyman  was  distinguished 

3  Memoirs  of  Rittenhouse,  by  William  Barton,  M.A.,  p.  287. 


170        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

by  a  generous  openness  of  temper,  and  liberality  of  sentiments,  which 
joined  to  an  exemplary  conduct,  and  indefatigable  zeal  in  discharging  the 
duties  of  his  function,  gained  him  the  love  and  esteem  of  his  acquaintance!; 
especially  of  his  parishioners,  who  greatly  respected  him  during  his  resi- 
dence among  them  for  21  years.  His  unshaken  loyalty  and  attachment  to 
the  Constitution,  drew  upon  him  the  resentment  of  the  rebels,  and  exposed 
him  to  many  hardships.  The  violence  of  the  times  compelled  him  at  last 
to  leave  his  numerous  family,  and  take  refuge  in  this  city  ;  where  he  bore  a 
tedious  and  most  painful  sickness  with  fortitude  and  resignation  ;  he  died 
in  firm  expectation  of  that  immortality  and  glory  which  are  the  exalted 
privileges  of  sincere  Christians.  On  Friday  last  his  remains  were  interred 
in  the  Chancel  of  St.  George's  Chapel. 

His  wife  had  died  18  June,  1774  and  was  buried    at  Lan- 
caster.4 


XXII. 

The  vacancy  occasioned  by  Mr.  Dove's  retirement,  which 
was  made  necessary  by  his  insistence  on  continuing  his  private 
school,  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Ebenezer  Kinnersley, 
at  the  meeting  of  10  July,  1753.  The  story  is  best  told  in  the 
Minutes  : 

Mr.  Peters  inform"  d  the  Trustees,  That  in  Pursuance  of  their  Resolu- 
tion of  providing  a  new  Master  for  the  English  School,  Mr.  Franklin  had 
sometime  since  wrote  to  Mr.  Ebenezer  Kinnersly,  then  in  the  West  Indies 
to  know  if  that  Place  would  be  agreeable  to  him,  and  that  Mr.  Kinnersly 
was  now  come  over  and  had  signified  his  Willingness  to  accept  thereof,  if 
the  Trustees  approve  of  him.  The  Trustees  present,  having  express'  d  their 
approbation  of  Mr.  Kinnersly,  thought  proper  to  send  for  Mr.  Dove  and 
acquaint  him  that  they  had  provided  a  new  Master  for  the  said  School 
pursuant  to  their  Intention  signified  to  him  some  Months  ago ;  who, 
thereupon,  declared  he  would  attend  the  School  no  longer.  Mr.  Kinnersly 


*  Alden,  American  Epitaphs,  ii,  206. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       171 

being  then  sent  for,  accepted  the  charge  of  the  said  School  for  one  Year, 
his  salary  to  be  one  Hundred  and  Fifty  pounds  per  annum. 

On  17  November  following  Mr.  Kinnersley  informed  the 
Trustees  "that  there  are  no  more  than  Fortyone  scholars 
belonging  to  the  English  school,"  and  they  thought  it  unneces- 
sary to  keep  two  Ushers  and  Mr.  Carroll,  and 

Mr.  Franklin  was  therefore  desired  to  acquaint  him  that  the  Trustees  have 
no  further  occasion  for  his  services,  but  that  they  will  nevertheless  continue 
him  in  Pay  for  Three  Months  after  the  expiration  of  the  current  Quarter, 
unless  he  shall  sooner  get  into  some  other  employment. 

Mr.  Kinnersley  so  commended  himself  to  the  Trustees  in 
his  labors,  that  at  a  large  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held  on  1 1 
July,  1755,  with  Franklin  presiding,  he  was  "unanimously 
chosen  Professor  of  the  English  Tongue  and  of  oratory."  It 
was  a  month  before  his  appointment  as  Master  of  the  English 
School,  that  we  find  one  of  those  fugitive  notes  in  the  local 
press  which  testify  to  the  Trustees'  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  keeping  the  attention  of  the  community  alive  to  the  subject 
of  education  as  exemplified  by  the  rule  of  the  Academy.  "  On 
Wednesday  the  3Oth  past,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Cradock,  from 
Maryland,  preached  in  the  Academy  Hall,  a  most  excellent 
Sermon  on  the  Advantages  of  Learning."  l  This  may  have  had 
a  deeper  meaning  than  the  mere  notice  of  the  sermon  would 
convey.  May  it  not  have  been  that  Franklin  thought  he  would 
find  in  this  trained  scholar  and  successful  teacher  the  man  to 
take  the  place,  which  he  had  hoped  at  the  outset  of  the  Academy 
would  be  filled  by  the  learned  Samuel  Johnson  of  Stratford, 


1  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  7  June,  1753.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Cradock,  incum- 
bent of  St.  Thomas'  Parish,  Baltimore  County,  the  older  brother  of  John  Cradock, 
who  in  1772  became  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  was  a  very  learned  man,  and  in  the 
Maryland  Gazette  $  May  1747  had  advertised  to  take  young  gentlemen  in  his  family  and 
teach  them  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  which  he  did  for  many  years,  his  school 
being  patronized  from  the  near  southern  counties  of  that  Province.  It  is  related  of 
his  son  Thomas  that  under  his  tuition  the  lad  at  the  age  of  twelve  was  able  to  repeat 
entire  pages  of  Homer  in  the  Greek.  Rev.  Ethan  Allen  in  Sprague's  Annals,  p.  III. 
In  1753  he  published  a  version  of  the  Psalms,  translated  from  the  Hebrew  original 
into  uniform  heroic  verse.  Miss  H.  \V.  Ridgely's  Old  Brick  Churches  of  Maryland, 
p.  122.  It  is  not  mentioned  by  Allibone.  Mr.  Cradock  died  7  May,  1770,  aged  51 
years. 


1/2       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Connecticut,  who  became  the  head  in  1754  of  the  New  King's 
College,  New  York?  There  was  no  meeting  of  the  Trustees 
in  June  1753  for  lack  of  a  quorum;  and  the  conjecture  relating 
to  Mr.  Cradock  in  this  connection  has  only  the  warrant  of 
Franklin's  special  notice  of  his  Academy  Sermon  on  a  Week 
Day,  which  he  deemed  important  enough  to  apprise  his 
readers  of. 

EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY'S  name  is  so  interwoven  with  the  work 
of  the  first  score  of  years  of  the  Academy  and  College,  that  we 
naturally  desire  to  know  somewhat  of  the  man  who  made  for  him- 
self this  distinction.  He  was  born,  the  son  of  William  Kinnersley 
a  Baptist  Minister,  in  Gloucester,  England,  30  November,  1711. 
His  father  immigrated  to  America  in  1714,  and  settled  in  Lower 
Dublin,  near  Philadelphia,  where  he  officiated  as  minister  to  the 
Pennypack  Baptist  Church.  He  died  in  1734;  and  the  son  after- 
wards united  with  the  Pennypack  Church,  and  on  his  marriage 
in  1739  removed  to  Philadelphia.  His  talents  as  a  public 
speaker  were  soon  manifest,  and  his  desire  was  to  enter  the  min- 
istry but  his  health  not  being  robust  he  was  not  ordained  until 
1743.  He  had  in  one  of  his  lay  sermons  denounced  Whitefield's 
teachings  and  so  incurred  the  enmity  of  most  of  his  co-religion- 
ists who  were  entranced  by  that  wonderful  preacher,  that  he 
was  for  a  season  under  excommunication  by  his  brethren,  and 
for  some  time  he  attended  Christ  Church  ;  but  a  reconciliation 
took  place  in  1746  when  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  Church  was 
organized,  of  which  he  became  one  of  the  constituent  members, 
and  with  this  he  remained  in  communion  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

It  was  in  the  year  1746  that  in  the  indulgence  of  his  well 
formed  scientific  tastes  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the  inves- 
tigation of  electricity  and  its  subtle  and  wonderful  powers,  and 
became  closely  associated  with  Franklin  in  his  experiments  and 
with  others  like  minded.  His  pursuit  of  it  was  so  engrossing  as  to 
overtax  his  health  and  he  sought  convalescence  in  Bermuda, 
whither  he  resorted  at  subsequent  times  for  a  like  purpose  ; 
and  it  was  while  here  that  Franklin  corresponded  with  him  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        173 

Spring  of  1753  about  taking  charge  of  the  English  School, 
which  resulted  in  his  connection  with  the  Academy.  His  powers 
as  a  speaker  made  successful  the  Lectures  on  Electricity  which 
he  undertook,  and  which  brought  his  name  more  prominently 
before  the  different  communities  in  which  he  exhibited  his 
interesting  experiments,  than  other  congenial  friends  who  had 
not  the  like  need  to  turn  their  accomplishments  to  useful  pur- 
poses. Franklin  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction,  5  Sep- 
tember, 1751,  to  James  Bowdoin  when  he  is  about  visiting 
Boston  : 2 

As  you  are  curious  in  electricity,  I  take  the  freedom  of  introducing 
to  you,  my  friend  Mr.  Kinnersley,  who  visits  Boston  with  a  complete  appa- 
ratus for  experimental  lectures  on  that  subject.  He  has  given  great  satis- 
faction to  all  that  have  heard  him  here,  and  I  believe  you  will  be  pleased 
with  his  performance.  He  is  quite  a  stranger  in  Boston  ;  and  as  you  will 
find  him  a  sensible  worthy  man,  I  hope  he  will  be  favored  with  your  coun- 
tenance, and  the  encouragement  which  that  must  procure  him  among  your 
friends. 

In  writing  to  Cadwallader  Golden  on  14  September,  1752, 
Franklin  says 3  :  "I  am  sorry  you  could  not  see  Mr.  Kinnersley 's 
Lectures  ;  they  would  have  pleased  you."  Kinnersley's  cor- 
respondence with  Franklin  was  continued  over  many  years,  his 
last  letter  to  Franklin  which  we  have  being  written  him  to  Lon- 
don 13  October,  1770;  extracts  from  it  have  been  given  in  the 
sketch  of  Franklin's  life  on  a  previous  page,  and  all  display 
the  ardor  of  a  learned  enthusiast  who  in  communicating  his 
observations  and  experiments  to  an  older  friend  appears  to  seek 
his  concurrence  if  not  approval  in  their  results,  who  in  turn 
responds  with  like  eagerness  to  his  friend  whether  from  the 
quiet  of  his  home  or  amid  his  public  duties  while  abroad. 

In  1757,  Mr.  Kinnersley  received  the  degree  of  M.A.  from 
his  College,  and  in  1758  became  a  member  of  the  American 
Philosophical  Society.  We  shall  see  traces  of  his  steps  through 
his  College  duties,  until  his  three  score  of  years  with  a  feeble 
constitution  induced  him  to  lay  down  his  professorship,  and  he 

2  Sparks,  v.  257.     Bigelow,  ii.  243.  s  Sparks,  vi.  123. 


174          HISTORY    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

resigned  it  17  October,  1772.     The  Minutes  of  the  Trustees,  15 
October,  record  that 

Dr  Redman  and  Dr  Peters  reported  that  Mr  Kinnersley  had  desired 
them  to  inform  the  Board  that  on  the  iyth  inst,  he  designed  to  resign  his 
office  and  Professorship  in  this  Institution,  the  present  state  of  his  health 
requiring  that  he  should  make  a  Voyage  to  a  warmer  climate  during  the 
approaching  Winter  ;  and  that  he  hoped  the  Trustees  would  give  him  a 
proper  Certificate  of  his  good  Behaviour  during  the  last  nineteen  years  in 
which  he  has  been  employed  in  their  Service,  and  that  they  will  allow  Mrs 
Kinnersley  to  occupy  the  House  in  which  he  now  lives,  till  next  Spring, 
which  was  at  once  granted. 

He  passed  the  following  winter  in  Barbadoes,  thus  again  seeking 
strength  under  the  restfulness  of  a  tropical  climate.  On  his 
return,  he  made  his  home  in  the  country  among  the  scenes  of 
his  early  youth,  and  there  died  4  July,  1778,  and  was  buried  at 
the  Lower  Dublin  Baptist  Church.  It  was  as  a  graceful  tribute  to 
his  memory  that  some  of  the  Alumni  and  others  erected  a  Win- 
dow Memorial  to  Ebenezer  Kinnersley4  in  College  Hall ;  it  is  on 
the  Eastern  stairway,  and  all  who  pass  and  repass  under  its 
tinted  light  must  be  reminded  of  the  faithful  professor  who  found 
time  to  contribute  to  his  fellow  men  some  better  knowledge  of 
Electricity,  and  who  thus  supplemented  the  discoveries  of  the 
great  Founder  of  the  institution  to  which  the  latter  had  called 
him  to  be  a  professor. 

Graydon  in  his  Memoirs  describes  his  tuition  in  grammar 
and  recitation  under  Mr.  Kinnersley,  and  speaks  of  him  as  "  an 
Anabaptist  clergyman,  a  large,  venerable  looking  man,  of  no 
great  general  erudition,  though  a  considerable  proficient  in  elec- 
tricity." Provost  Smith's  notice  of  him  in  the  American  Magazine 
for  October,  1758,  where  he  noticed  Alison  and  Grew,  already 
referred  to,  will  be  quoted  later  in  a  more  fitting  connection 
than  here. 

An  opportunity  presented  itself  shortly  after  Mr.  Kinners- 
ley's  appointment,  to  securing  a  teacher  for  modern  languages ; 
on  1 6  December, 
the  Trustees  being  inform' d  that  Mr.  Creamer  a  gent'n  from  Germany  is 


4ltln  Memoriam  Rev.  E.  Kinnersley,  A.M.,  Orat.  et  Litt.  Angl.  Prof.  1753- 
1772  "  is  the  legend  on  the  window.     It  was  erected  in  1872. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        175 

very  capable  of  teaching  the  French  and  German  Languages,  and  that  he 
is  now  out  of  employment,  Mr.  Peters,  Mr.  Franklin  and  Dr.  Bond  are 
desired  to  enquire  more  particularly  into  his  qualifications  and  to  treat  with 
him  concerning  his  teaching  those  Languages  in  the  Academy. 

On  8  January,  1754, 

Dr.  Thomas  Bond  reports  that  pursuant  to  the  Request  of  the  Trustees  at 
their  last  Meeting  Mr.  Franklin  and  himself  had  made  some  Enquiry 
concerning  Mr.  Creamer  and  had  been  informed  he  was  qualified  for 
Teaching  the  French,  Italian  and  German  Languages,  and  besides  was 
well  skill' d  in  Musick  and  some  Kinds  of  Painting.  That  they  had  also 
desired  to  know  of  him  upon  what  Terms  he  would  undertake  to  teach 
these  Things,  or  such  of  them  as  the  Trustees  should  require,  in  the 
Academy.  That  in  Answer  to  this  he  proposed  to  give  attendance  four 
Hours  in  a  Day  for  a  Salary  of  Sixty  Pounds  per  annum,  provided  he 
might  have  Liberty  of  using  the  School  Room  to  teach  in  at  other  Times, 
in  Case  any  Scholars,  not  of  the  Academy,  offer' d.  The  Trustees  con- 
sidering that  some  Inconveniences  might  attend  this  Matter,  chose  rather 
to  make  him  an  offer  of  ^100.  per  annum  for  his  attendance  all  the  School 
Hours,  or  Time  equivalent,  if  other  Hours  should  be  found  to  suit  them 
better;  Wherewith  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  is  desired  to  acquaint  him. 

But  this  arrangement  proved  irksome  to  the  Trustees,  it 
seems,  for  a  minute  of  II  July,  1755,  implies  they  desired  a 
severance  of  these  relations. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Creamer  to  the  Trustees  was  read,  requesting  to  be 
continued  Teacher  of  the  French  Tongue  till  April  next.  But  the  Trustees 
being  of  Opinion  his  being  longer  employ' d  in  the  Academy  was  unneces- 
sary, agreed  he  should  be  paid  up  to  this  Time,  and  to  give  him  a  quarters 
salary  over. 

The  interests  of  the  Charity  School  kept  pace  in  the 
thoughts  of  the  Trustees  with  that  of  the  Academy.  At  the 
meeting  of  17  November,  1753, 

Mr.  Franklin  and  Dr.  Shippen  are  desired  to  treat  with  one  Mrs.  Hoi- 
well  (who  for  some  Time  past  has  kept  a  school,  and  is  said  to  be  well 
qualified  for  that  Business)  to  know  upon  what  Terms  she  would  undertake 
the  charge  of  thirty  Girls  to  teach  them  Reading,  Sewing  and  Knitting. 

At  the  next  meeting,  these  Trustees  reported  an  engage- 
ment with  Mrs.  Holwell, 

for  which  she  is  to  be  paid  Thirty  pounds  per  annum;  and  that  at  present 
she  teaches  in  one  of  the  upper  Rooms  in  the  Academy,  till  a  more  con- 
venient place  shall  be  provided. 


176       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

On  13  August,  1754,  it  was 

ordered,  That  the  Treasurer  pay  to  Frances  Holwell,  Mistress  of  the 
Charity  School,  the  Sum  of  Three  Pounds,  to  be  laid  out  in  Books,  Canvas, 
Cruels,  and  other  Things  necessary  in  the  Instruction  of  the  poor  Children 
under  her  care. 

What  we  of  to-day  term  Fancy  Work,  the  Trustees  of  old 
thought  a  necessary  tuition  to  poor  children  ;  and  the  remem- 
brance of  ancient  samplers  is  revived,  the  handiwork  of  the 
girls  of  the  last  century,  which  was  fostered  by  the  Fathers  of 
our  University.  On  8  April,  1755,  Mrs.  Holwell  was  allowed 
"Fifteen  pounds  a  year  for  an  assistant,  she  taking  charge  of 
Fifty  Girls,  if  the  Trustees  think  fit  to  send  so  many." 


XXIII. 

The  progress  of  the  good  work  so  carefully  guided  by  the 
Trustees  opened  up  further  thoughts  of  the  future  uses  of  the 
Academy,  and  at  the  meeting  of  10  April,  1753,  when  the 
approval  of  a  Charter  for  the  vigorous  Academy  was  announced, 
it  "  was  represented  to  the  Trustees  that  the  ground  between 
the  Academy  Lot  and  Arch  street  might  probably  now  be 
obtained  on  a  reasonable  Ground  Rent,  it  was  unanimously 
agreed  to  request  Mr.  Alison  (who  had  been  treating  with  the 
owners  concerning  it)  to  secure  the  same  at  the  Rate  of  4.6  pr 
Foot."  The  matter  was  at  once  closed,  and  certain  two  lots 
were  secured,  reaching  from  the  Western  moiety  of  their  lot  to 
Arch  Street1  giving  them  a  frontage  on  that  street  of  126  feet  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  and  by  the  same  conveyance  they  pur- 
chased the  lot  at  the  corner  of  Arch  and  Fourth  streets,  36  feet 
on  the  latter  by  54  feet  deep,  and  upon  this  latter  was  eventually 
erected  the  Provost's  house.  There  remained  three  adjoining 


1  Title  was  taken  from  Dr.  Alison   14  July,  1753,  who  had  purchased  on  16 
April  previously  from  Jonathan  Price.     See  Deed  Book  H,  No.  7,  p.  449,  &c. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       177 

lots  between  this  latter  and  the  remainder,  40  feet  on  Fourth  Street 
by  1 8  feet  on  Arch  Street  which  were  purchased  by  Mr  Dove 
about  the  same  time.  Probably  seeing  the  desire  of  the  Trustees 
to  possess  these  to  square  out  their  premises,  Mr  Dove  may  have 
secured  them  on  a  venture,  for  if  he  did  not  prove  himself  a 
Dove  in  teaching,  as  we  shall  see,  he  may  have  lacked  his  titular 
innocence  in  a  trade.  However  this  may  be,  negotiations  were 
opened  in  about  twelve  years  for  their  sale  to  the  Trustees,  and 
after  a  dozen  years  further  patience  they  secured  them  for 
£850,  which  was  reported  at  a  special  meeting  on  22  November, 
I766.2  The  purchase  of  1753  was  not  too  much  for  their 
expected  wants.  Buildings  would  be  erected,  and  ample  play 
ground  reserved  for  the  pupils,  and  dormitories  were  wanted 
for  the  incoming  of  the  country  lad  who  desired  a  better  edu- 
cation than  he  could  find  near  his  distant  town  ;  though  the 
Charter,  now  forthcoming,  gave  them  no  higher  title  than  the  one 
they  had  begun  and  flourished  on  :  The  Academy  and  Charita- 
ble School  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania. 

A  Charter  had  early  been  in  their  thoughts,  for  the  firmer 
management  of  their  affairs  and  the  proper  holding  of  real  estate, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  political  influence  accruing  to  their  efforts 
to  have  their  work  thus  officially  sealed  to  them  by  the  powers 
that  be.  And  at  the  meeting  of  9  June,  1752,  "  Mr.  Francis  is 
desired  to  make  a  Draught  of  a  charter  for  incorporating  the 
Trustees  of  the  Academy  in  order  to  be  sent  over  to  the  Pro- 
prietor for  his  approbation."  Through  the  influential  offices  of 
Dr.  Peters,  Secretary  to  the  Proprietors,  whose  active  interest 
in  the  Academy  seemed  to  be  second  only  to  that  of  Franklin, 
the  application  to  be  chartered  was  well  furthered.  But  the 
delays  of  ocean  travel,  and  the  formal  solemnities  of  such  a  trans- 
action, took  many  months  to  overcome  ;  and  only  at  the  meet- 
ing of  10  April,  1753, 

Mr.  Peters  acquainted  the  Trustees,  that  the  Proprietors  approved  the 
Draft  of  a  Charter  which  had  been  laid  before  them,  and  had  sent  over 
Directions  for  passing  the  same  under  the  great  seal.  That  they  had  like- 


1  The  two  Fourth  Street  Lots  he  had  taken  from  the  same  Price  title  18  April, 
1753.    The  Trustees'  title  from  him  is  Recorded  in  Deed  Book  I,  No.  6,  p.  663,  &c. 


i/8       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

wise  sent  an  Order  on  their  Receiver  General  for  the  Payment  of  Five 
Hundred  Pounds  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  as  soon  as  the  Charter 
should  be  executed  ;  and  the  said  Order  was  accordingly  deliver' d  to  the 
President. 

And  it  was  then 

Resolved,  That  an  Address  of  Thanks  be  made  to  the  Proprietors  for 
this  great  Favour  and  noble  Benefaction  ;  and  Mr.  Allen,  Mr.  Francis  and 
Mr.  Franklin  are  desired  to  prepare  a  Draft  of  the  same,  to  be  laid  before 
the  Trustees  at  their  next  meeting. 

At  the  meeting  of  13  July,  seventeen  Trustees3  being  pres- 
ent, though  the  President  was  absent  from  the  city  on  his  tour 
to  the  Eastward  on  his  post  office  duties, 

Mr.  Peters  informed  the  Trustees  that  the  Governor  was  now  at  his  House, 
ready  to  pass  the  Charter,  which  had  been  fairly  engrossed  for  that  Purpose  ; 
Whereupon  the  Trustees  in  a  Body  waited  on  the  Governor,  who  accord- 
ingly signed  the  same  with  a  Warrant  for  affixing  the  Provincial  Seal  thereto, 
and  delivered  it  to  the  Trustees,  expressing  his  good  wishes  to  their  Under- 
taking and  that  the  charter  now  granted  them  might  contribute  to  its 
Success.  Mr.  Francis  then,  in  Behalf  of  the  Trustees,  returned  the  Gov- 
ernor their  most  hearty  Thanks,  and  assured  him  they  would  likewise 
dutifully  address  the  Proprietors  in  Acknowledgment  of  so  great  a  Favour, 
and  of  their  late  noble  Benefaction  to  the  Academy.  Mr.  Francis  was  then 
desired  to  get  the  great  seal  affixed  thereto  pursuant  to  the  Governor's  War- 
rant, and  cause  it  to  be  recorded  in  the  Rolls  office  in  Philadelphia. 

Thus  was  chartered  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  ACADEMY  AND 
CHARITABLE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  gratification  in  receiving  a  Charter  extended  beyond 
the  Trustees  to  the  Pupils,  and  these  were  afforded  an  early 
opportunity  to  make  declamations  on  the  pleasing  topic.  Orig- 
inal papers  by  Francis  Hopkinson,  Josiah  Martin,  John  Morris, 
and  William  Masters  (who  did  not  graduate),  are  preserved 
among  the  Penn  Papers  in  the  possession  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society.  These  were  cared  for  by  the  thoughtful 
Peters  and  forwarded  to  the  Proprietaries  as  evidences  of  the 
proficiency  attained  in  the  Academy,  which  they  had  now  clothed 


3  Messrs.  Lawrence,  Francis,  Turner,  Willing,  Plumsted,  Maddox,  White, 
Cadwalader,  Syng,  Thos.  Bond,  Leech,  Phineas  Bond,  Shippen,  Strettell,  Inglis, 
Peters,  and  Coleman. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         179 

with  a  Charter.     And   in   his  handwriting  we  find  the  endorse- 
ment on  one  of  them  : 

Some  declamations  made  by  the  Latin  Boys  in  the  Academy  on  the 
Proprietaries  kind  grant  of  a  charter,  Not  intended  for  View  being  only 
written  as  Rough  Drafts  to  help  their  Memories  at  the  time  of  delivery. 
Neither  masters  nor  any  other  person  that  we  know  of  gave  any  assistance. 

Hopkinson  in  a  firm  manly  hand,  though  but  sixteen  years 
of  age,  writes : 

'Tis  Learning  which  like  an  able  Artist  polishes  the  Diamond  and 
Discovers  its  Lustre  and  latent  Beauties.  'Tis  Learning  which  makes  a 
Man  happy  in  himself  and  a  blessing  to  his  Country.  'Tis  Learning 
which  prepares  us  for  Heaven  and  Perfection  and  makes  a  Mortal  almost 
equal  to  the  Angels  themselves.  *  *  *  Alas,  how  unhappy  are  they 
who  have  not  had  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  Education,  surely  Life  must 
be  a  burden  to  them  and  Time  hang  heavy  on  their  Hands  ;  but  this  shall 
never  be  said  of  Philadelphia  while  such  generous,  such  publick  spirited 
Gentlemen  bear  any  sway  in  it 

John  Morris,  a  graduate  of  1759,  who  could  not  have  been 
over  fourteen  years  of  age,  with  a  vigorous  and  clear  pen  writes  : 

Our  present  Honourable  Proprietaries,  copying  after  the  Example  of 
such  a  noble  Father,  will  no  doubt,  advance  every  good,  every  useful 
Design  among  us.  How  much  are  we  indebted  to  them,  for  their  generous 
Benefaction,  how  much  for  granting  a  Charter,  which  establishes  this 
Academy  upon  a  sure  and  lasting  Foundation  ?  A  Charter  confirmed  to  us 
by  a  Governor,  who  has  thought  us  worthy  of  his  Notice  and  Protection 
amid  the  cares  that  attend  his  exalted  Station  ;  a  Governor  born  among  us, 
our  Friend  and  our  Countryman,  and  a  Governor  distinguished  for  his 
peaceable  administration  and  an  inviolable  Regard  for  the  Laws  and 
Rights  of  Mankind.  How  much  is  it  for  our  Honour  that  our  President 
has  been  so  successful  in  his  searches  into  the  most  hidden  secrets  of  Nature 
and  is  in  as  much  esteem  at  London  and  Paris  as  in  Philadelphia.  With 
such  examples  as  these  before  our  Eyes,  and  under  your  care,  and  inspec- 
tion of  such  worthy  gentlemen,  what  advantages  may  we  not  hope  for  ? 


i  So       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XXIV. 

Franklin's  summer  in  1753  was  a  busy  one  ; 

Having  been  for  some  time  employed  [he  writes]  1  by  the  postmaster- 
general  of  America,  as  his  comptroller  in  regulating  several  offices,  and 
bringing  the  officers  to  account,  I  was  upon  his  death,  in  1753,  appointed 
jointly  with  Mr.  William  Hunter,  to  succeed  him,  by  a  commission  from 
the  Postmaster-general  in  England.  The  American  office  never  had 
hitherto  paid  anything  to  that  of  Britain.  We  were  to  have  six  hun- 
dred pounds  a  year  between  us,  if  we  could  make  that  sum  out  of  the 
profits  of  the  office.  *  *  *  The  business  of  the  postoffice  occasioned 
my  taking  a  journey  this  year  to  New  England,  where  the  College  of  Cam- 
bridge, of  their  own  motion,  presented  me  with  the  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts.  Yale  College  in  Connecticut  had  before  made  me  a  similar  compli- 
ment. Thus,  without  studying  in  any  College,  I  came  to  partake  of  their 
honours.  They  were  conferred  in  consideration  of  my  improvements  and 
discoveries  in  the  electric  branch  of  natural  philosophy. 

In  writing  to  Cadwallader  Golden  on  25  October,  1753,  he 
says : 2 

This  last  summer  I  have  enjoyed  very  little  of  the  pleasure  of  reading 
or  writing.  I  made  a  long  journey  to  the  eastward,  which  consumed  ten 
weeks  ;  and  two  journeys  to  our  western  frontiers  ;  one  of  them,  to  meet 
and  hold  a  treaty  with  the  Ohio  Indians,  in  company  with  Mr.  Peters  and 
Mr.  Norris. 

In  writing  his  friend  Mr.  Hugh  Roberts  on  16  July,  from 
Boston,  he  says : 

My  respects  to  all  our  old  friends  of  the  JUNTO,  Hospital  and  Insur- 
ance. 3 

These  references  call  here  for  some  notice  of  two  other 
of  the  notable  enterprises  of  the  time  in  which  Franklin's  leader- 
ship was  sought.  The  Pennsylvania  Hospital  had  begun  its 
first  ministrations  to  the  suffering  in  February,  1752,  in  the 
house  of  Judge  Kinsey,  on  Market  Street  near  Sixth,  on  the 


1  Bigelow,  i.  241.  *  Bigelow,  i.  357. 

'Sparks,  vii.  77.  Writing  to  the  same  from  London  27  February,  1766,  he 
adds,  "remember  me  affectionately  to  the  Junto,  and  to  all  inquiring  friends." 
Bigelow,  iii.  456.  Sparks,  vii.  308. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         181 

site  of  which  a  few  years  afterwards  Mrs.  Masters  erected  her 
Mansion,  elsewhere  referred  to,  which  was  the  precursor  of  the 
Washington  residence.  From  its  inception,  at  the  close  of  1750, 
Franklin  had  been  its  guide.  His  friend  Dr.  Thomas  Bond 
originated  the  movement,  and  while  these  two  were  busy  in 
arranging  for  the  beginning  of  the  Academy  to  train  the  mind 
of  youth,  they  found  time  to  plan  an  institution  to  provide  means 
for  healing  the  suffering  bodies  of  the  aged  and  the  injured,  or 
as  Franklin  expressively  styles  it,  "  for  the  relief  of  the  Sick 
and  Miserable;"  and  on  7  February,  1751,  a  bill  was  passed 
the  Provincial  Assembly  incorporating  "  The  Contributors  to 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital."  Franklin  had  written  up  the  mat- 
ter in  the  Gazette,  and  employed  other  active  means  to  interest 
the  community  in  the  project.  And  at  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Contributors  held  at  the  State  House,  a  board  of  managers  was 
chosen,  of  which  Benjamin  Franklin  was  made  President.  Of 
the  managers,  twelve  in  number,  Franklin,  Bond,  and  Peters, 
were  trustees  of  the  Academy  ;  and  another  Manager  was  Hon. 
John  Smith,  who  in  a  twelvemonth  became  the  originator  of  an 
institution  for  effecting  insurances  on  buildings,  in  the  further- 
ance of  which  he  secured  the  like  co-operation  from  Franklin 
that  Thomas  Bond  had  for  his  Hospital.  Funds  came  in,  and 
pending  the  selection  of  a  permanent  location,  Judge  Kinsey's 
house  was  rented,  rules  and  regulations  for  its  management 
were  adopted,  and  Lloyd  Zachary,  Thomas  and  Phineas  Bond, 
Thomas  Cadwalader,  Samuel  Preston  Moore,  and  John  Redman 
were  appointed  the  first  surgeons  and  physicians,  who  offered 
to  attend  the  patients  gratuitously  for  three  years.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1754,  the  managers  secured  a  block  of  ground,  distant  from 
the  outskirts  of  the  built-up  portions  of  the  city,  being  the  entire 
square  south  of  Spruce  Street  and  west  of  Eighth  Street.  *  Pro- 
vision was  at  once  made  for  a  building,  and  the  corner  stone  of 
what  we  know  as  the  East  Wing  was  laid  28  May,  1755,  with 

4  The  Managers  purchased  for  the  erection  of  their  Buildings  the  plot  of 
ground  known  as  Society  Square  on  15  November,  1754,  on  Pine  Street  between 
Eighth  and  Ninth  Sts.,  and  to  this  was  subsequently  added  the  balance  (about  one- 
fourth)  of  the  block  extending  north  to  Spruce  Street  of  the  same  width  by  gift  of 
Thomas  and  Richard  Penn  under  patent  of  10  November,  1767.  Dr.  Morton's 
History  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  1895,  p.  270. 


1 82       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Franklin's  well  known  inscription  on  it,  which  will  bear  repe- 
tition here  : 

In  the  year  of  Christ 

MDCCLV 

GEORGE  the  Second  happily  Reigning 
(for  he  sought  the  happiness  of  his  people) 

Philadelphia  Flourishing 
(for  its  inhabitants  were  public  spirited) 

This  Building 

By  the  Bounty  of  the  Government 
And  of  many  private  persons 

Was  piously  founded 

For  the  Relief  of  the  Sick  and  Miserable, 

May  the  God  of  Mercies 

Bless  the  undertaking 

The  Hospital  and  the  University  have  the  same  parentage, 
and  their  kinship  is  recognised  to  this  day,  for  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  latter  has  always  found  its  chief  school  in 
the  means  furnished  by  the  former  for  the  development  of  medi- 
cal and  surgical  science,  and  most  of  its  professors  have  earned 
their  eminence  on  the  basis  of  the  tuition  they  have  found  in 
Hospital  residence  here. 

It  was  in  April,  1752,  that  Franklin,  with  great  zeal  and 
interest,  lent  his  aid  to  establishing  the  first  Insurance  Company 
on  the  Continent,  The  Philadelphia  Contributionship  for  the 
Insurance  of  Houses  from  Loss  by  Fire,  of  which  the  Hon. 
John  Smith  was  the  first  policy  holder  and  the  first  Treasurer; 
an  institution  whose  vigor  and  security  to  day  make  its  policies 
the  first  on  the  list  of  all  those  granting  indemnity  for  the  Hos- 
pital and  the  University  buildings  in  case  of  their  loss  by  fire. 

With  such  a  citizen  as  Benjamin  Franklin,  though  he  was 
not  native  to  the  soil,  can  we  wonder  at  the  people  of  Philadel- 
phia, under  such  inspiration  and  leadership,  establishing  so 
many  institutions  of  value  whose  age  to  day  proves  the  strength 
of  their  foundations  ;  it  could  not  be  otherwise  that  Philadelphia 
was  flourishing,  "  for  its  inhabitants  were  public  spirited." 
Rarely  has  it  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  citizen  known  to  history  to 
have  behind  him  so  many  works  of  value  and  beneficence  as  we 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       183 

find  bearing  the  impress  of  Benjamin  Franklin's  brain  and  hand. 
To  trace,  therefore,  the  life  of  any  one  of  them,  it  seems  unavoid- 
able in  our  progress  to  pass  on  without  taking  some  account  of 
the  others,  for  in  thus  doing  we  can  more  fully  estimate  his 
catholicity  and  his  wisdom. 

He  was  next  present  at  the  Trustees  meeting  of  9  October, 
1753,  but  there  lacking  a  quorum,  "the  Trustees  visited  the 
English  School  but  did  no  other  business."  It  was  between 
this  date  and  that  of  his  letter  to  Cadwallader  Golden,  of  25 
October,  above  quoted  from,  that  he  journeyed  to  Carlisle  as 
one  of  the  deputies  from  the  Provincial  Assembly  to  meet  the 
Western  Indians,  where  a  treaty  was  concluded.  It  is  on  this 
occasion  that  the  narrative  of  his  diplomacy  to  prevent  the  Indians 
becoming  drunk  before  the  Treaty  was  concluded  has  place,5 

he  strictly  forbade  the  selling  any  liquor  to  them  :  and,  when  they  com- 
plained of  this  restriction,  he  told  them,  that  if  they  would  continue  sober 
during  the  treaty,  he  would  give  them  plenty  of  rum  when  business  was 
over. 

The  results  were  twofold,  a  successful  treaty,  but  a  following 
night  of  drunken  orgies.  For  this  the  older  Indians  in  their 
soberness  the  next  day  apologised,  but  laid  it  upon  the  rum, 
which  they  said  was  one  of  the  good  things  of  the  Great  Spirit, 
who  when  he  made  it,  said,  "  Let  this  be  for  the  Indians  to  get 
drunk  with,"  and  added  "it  must  be  so."  In  Franklin's  time 
his  observation  was  that  "rum  had  already  annihilated  all  the 
tribes  who  formerly  inhabited  the  sea  coast." 

The  entry  of  October,  1753,  above  quoted  is  one  of  many 
testifying  to  the  personal  attention  of  the  Trustees  to  the  work 

of  their  Professors  and  Tutors,  namely, 

\ 
14  January,  1752.     The  Trustees  visited  the  Schools,  but  did 

no  other  Business. 

ii  August,  1752.     The  Trustees  visited  the  Latin  School,  but 
did  no  other  Business. 

8  May,  1753.     The  Trustees  visited  the  English  School  but 

did  no  other  Business. 

9  October,  1753.     The  Trustees  visited  the  English  School  but 

did  no  other  Business. 
5  Bigelow,  i.  229. 


184       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

13  November,   1753.     The  Trustees  visited  the  Latin  School 

but  did  no  other  Business. 

9  April,  1754.     The  Trustees  visited  the  Writing  Mathematical 
and  Charity  Schools,  but  did  no  other  Business. 

14  May,  1754.     The  Trustees  visited  the  English  School  but 

did  no  other  Business. 

ii  June  1754.     The  Trustees  visited  the  Latin  School  but  did 
no  other  Business. 

9  July  1754.     The  Trustees  visited  the  French  School  but  did 

no  other  Business. 

10  September,  1754.     The  Trustees  visited  the   Latin  School 

but  did  no  other  Business. 


XXV. 

To  the  names  of  Grew,  Alison,  Kinnersley,  and  Creamer, 
Thomson,  Jackson,  Duche,  and  Barton,  who  at  this  point  of  time 
composed  the  faculty  and  tutors  of  the  Academy,  and  not  forget- 
ting those  whose  connection  with  it  had  ceased  by  death  or  resig- 
nation, Martin  and  Dove,  the  two  Jones',  Peisley  and  Carroll ;  we 
are  led  next  in  order  to  name,  which  though  first  appearing  in 
the  Minutes  of  25  May,  1754,  had  been  in  the  thoughts  and  on 
the  tongues  of  the  Trustees  for  a  twelvemonth,  William  Smith, 
who  happily  formed  a  connection  with  it  which  he  made  the  best 
and  most  enduring  work  of  his  life,  which  redounded  to  the 
advantage  and  credit  of  the  Academy  and  College  through  his 
years  of  work  in  its  behalf,  and  the  remembrance  and  repute  of 
which  must  remain  to  the  latest  era  of  its  existence.  The  Trus- 
tees had  now  found,  they  believed,  the  man  of  mind  and  nerve 
and  training  to  take  the  headship  of  the  Academy.  Though 
Dr.  Johnson  had  denied  them,  and  had  assumed  but  a  few 
weeks  before  this  the  Presidency  of  King's  College,  yet  it  was 
to  his  kindly  interest  as  well  as  to  his  lasting  credit  that  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  name  of  this  young  Scotch  tutor,  who  was  then  in 
the  line  of  his  duty  on  Long  Island,  may  be  traced.  If  the  parent 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        185 

of  the  University  could  not  make  Johnson  its  President  or  Pro- 
vost, it  was  a  fitting  gift  on  the  part  of  the  parent  of  Columbia 
College  to  point  the  way  for  the  first  Provost  of  the  University. 

WILLIAM  SMITH,  the  son  of  Thomas  Smith,  the  great  grand- 
son of  Sir  William  Smith,  who  died  in  1631,  was  born  within  a 
few  miles  of  the  city  of  Aberdeen,  7  September,  1727,  and  was 
baptised  in  the  "Old  Aberdeenshire  Kirk,"  19  October.  His 
Mother  was  Elizabeth  the  daughter  of  Alexander  Duncan,  of 
the  Camperdown  family,  whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Sir  Peter 
Murray  of  Auchtintyre.  Young  Smith  entered  the  parish 
school  at  seven  years  of  age  where  he  remained  a  year,  when  he 
was  taken,  charge  of  by  the  Society  for  the  Education  of  Paro- 
chial Schoolmasters  from  whose  care  he  passed  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Aberdeen  in  1741,  where  he  resided  some  time  but  did 
not  remain  for  graduation  as  there  appears  no  record  of  this  in 
the  annals  of  either  of  the  Colleges.1  His  biographer  places  him 
next  in  London,  in  1750,  as  Commissioner  for  the  Established 
or  Parochial  Schoolmasters  in  Scotland,  addressing  a  "Memorial 
on  their  behalf  to  the  great  men  in  Parliament ;  "  and  in  the  same 
year  he  published  an  Essay  on  Liberty.2 


1  Life  of  Rev.  William  Smith,  D.D.,  by  his  great-grandson,  Horace  Wemyss 
Smith,  Philada,  1880,  i,  20.  The  biographer  states  he  graduated  in  1747,  but  his 
degree  of  1759  of  Sacrosantae  Theologise  Doctorem  et  Magistrem  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Aberdeen  makes  no  reference  to  this  earlier  degree,  i,  202.  The  official 
record  of  the  Doctorate  is  as  follows:  "Kings  College  7th  March,  1759,  Con- 
vened the  Principal  and  Masters.  The  said  day  the  University  unanimously  agreed 
to  conferr  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  upon  the  Reverend  Mr.  \Villiam  Smith 
Provost  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia.  Jo'.  Chalmers,  Prin'"."  vide  letters  of  27 
May,  1887,  and  3  February,  1888,  from  P.  J.  Anderson.  LL. B.,  Librarian  of  the 
University  of  Aberdeen.  Had  Mr.  Smith  been  an  alumnus,  the  fact  would  have 
been  here  noticed.  Mr.  Anderson  writes  in  the  latter,  "  The  absence  of  the  title 
'  M.  A.'  is  I  think  conclusive  as  to  Mr.  Smith's  not  possessing  the  degree." 

2 "  The  whole  of  the  year  1750  he  passed  in  London  and  I  have  every  reason 
to  believe  that  during  thnt  time  he  acted  as  clerk  for  the  Honorable  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel."  ibid  i,  20.  We  form  some  idea  of  the  man  and  his  early 
record  from  Archbishop  Sherlock's  letter  testimonial  of  him  to  Thomas  Penn,  dated 
19  September,  1753: 

Sir — The  bearer  of  this  Mr.  William  Smith  is  desirous  of  being  known  and 
recommended  to  you  and  I  make  no  difficulty  of  taking  the  liberty  of  complying 
with  his  request.  He  came  to  me  from  Scotland  about  two  years  ago,  with  very 
ample  Testimonials  of  his  capacity  and  morals  and  affection  to  the  King  and  our 
Constitution.  Had  he  stayd  here,  I  should  have  had  my  Eye  upon  him,  but  a  good 
opportunity  offering  he  went  off  as  Tutor,  to  some  young  Lad,  to  New  York.  How 
he  behaved  there,  the  enclosed  Letters  will  inform  you  very  fully,  and  at  the  same 


1 86       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

During  this  period  he  was  tutoring  in  London,  and  later 
entered  the  family  of  Josiah  Martin,  Esquire,  the  second  son  of 
Samuel  Martin  of  Green  Castle,  as  tutor  to  his  two  sons.  With 
this  family  he  came  to  New  York  in  the  spring  of  1751,  landing 
in  New  York  I  May.  Mr.  Martin's  house  known  as  the  Her- 
mitage, at  Far  Rockaway,  Long  Island,  where  Smith  passed  the 
next  two  years  is  yet  standing  and  in  excellent  order.3  Here 
Mr.  Martin  died  in  1778  ;  his  eldest  daughter  married  her 
cousin  Josiah  Martin,  Governor  of  North  Carolina  in  1770, 
whose  older  brother  Samuel  was  Member  of  Parliament  for 
Camelford,  Joint  Secretary  to  the  Treasury,  and  Treasurer  to 
the  Princess  Dowager  of  Wales. 

While  here,  Mr.  Smith,  in  his  nearness  to  New  York  City 
must  have  been  familiar  with  the  efforts  then  prevailing  to  erect 
a  College  in  that  city,  and  in  this  connection  may  have  been  in 
communication  with  Dr.  Johnson,  but  of  correspondence  between 
them  there  is  none  existing. 

The  disputes  in  the  Province  of  New  York  on  the  subject 
of  a  College  were  at  their  height  when  he  arrived,  and  the 
questions  of  town  or  country  for  its  location,  and  of  its  con- 
trol by  Episcopacy  or  Presbytery,  were  either  of  them  suffi- 
cient to  invite  the  young  tutor  of  twenty-four  years  of  age  to 
note  them  and  soon  to  take  a  part  in  the  fray.  Being  a  member 
of  the  Martin  household,  his  intercourse  with  the  leading  men 
of  the  neighborhood  was  assured  and  easy.  In  1752  he  wrote 

time  give  foundation  to  consider,  how  proper  he  may  be  to  support  the  important 
character  he  aims  at  in  the  conduct  of  the  infant  College  at  Philadelphia.  I  have 
great  reason  to  thick  him  a  good  man.  He  is  a  scholar  and  ingenious  and  what  is  of 
the  highest  consequence  of  a  temper  fitted  as  it  seems  to  me  to  pursue  a  plan  of 
Education  upon  the  large  and  generous  footing  of  aiming  at  the  Publick  Good,  with 
no  other  Bias,  or  partiality  but  preserving  his  Duty  to  the  Constitution  of  his  Mother 
country,  consistently  with  a  warm  regard  to  the  service  of  the  Colonies,  and  the  uni- 
versal benefit  of  the  various  People  that  compose  them.  I  think  I  am  not  mistaken 
in  him,  and  if  I  am  not,  his  Youth  may  recommend  him  and  he  may  become  a  very 
faithful  and  useful  servant  in  a  country  in  whose  prosperity  you  have  so  strong  an 
interest.  You  will  please  to  interrogate  him  and  I  believe  you  will  be  pleased  with 
the  good  sense  and  ingenuousness  with  which  he  will  answer  to  your  questions.  I 
•  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  You  obliged  Humble  Servant,  Tho.  Cantuar. 

This  autograph  letter  is  in  the  Penn  Papers  in  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society, 
private,  vol.  iv.  This  letter  may  have  reached  Philadelphia  for  Smith's  personal 
presentation  of  it  to  Mr.  Penn,  ere  he  sailed  for  England,  as  it  is  supposed,  on  13 
October  following. 

3  And  is  the  property  of  James  A.  Hewlett,  Esq.,  of  New  York. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        187 

Some  Thoughts  on  Education :  with  Reasons  for  Erecting  a  College 
in  this  Province,  and  fixing  the  same  at  the  City  of  New  York : 
to  which  is  added  a  Scheme  for  employing  Masters  or  Teachers 
in  the  mean  Time,  and  also  for  raising  and  endowing  an  Edifice 
in  an  easy  Manner,  and  over  the  name  of  Philomathes  dedi- 
cated them  to  Chief  Justice  De  Lancey.  "  Being  advised  that, 
perhaps,  it  might  be  of  public  Use,  to  print  the  following 
Papers,  which  were  intended  originally  to  be  laid  before  the 
House  of  Representatives  only  in  Manuscript ;  I  must  beg 
Leave  to  put  them  under  your  Protection,  to  which  the  Subject 
naturally  recommends  them";  and  they  were  printed  by  J. 
Parker  in  the  autumn  of  1752.  The  whole  concluded  with  A 
Poem,  Being  a  serious  Address  to  the  House  of  Representatives. 
In  tone  it  rises  above  the  ordinary  controversial  pamphlet, 
though  it  is  full  of  the  author's  didactic  statements  submitted 
with  his  customary  force  ;  there  is  no  ambiguity  as  to  his  mean- 
ing. He  opens : 

If  we  look  into  the  Story  of  the  most  renowned  States  and  King- 
doms, that  have  subsisted  in  the  different  ages  of  the  World,  we  will  find 
that  they  were  indebted  *  for  their  Rise,  Grandeur  and  Happiness,  to  the 
early  Provision  made  by  their  first  Founders,  for  the  public  Instruction  of 
Youth.  The  great  Sages  and  Legislators  of  antiquity,  were  so  sensible  of 
this,  that  they  always  made  it  their  prime  care  to  plant  Seminaries,  and 
regulate  the  Method  of  Education  ;  and  many  of  them  even  designed,  in 
Person,  to  be  the  immediate  Superintendants  of  the  Manners  of  Youth, 
whom  they  justly  reckoned  the  rising  Hopes  of  their  country. 

Towards  the  conclusion,  a  paragraph  embraces  a  reference 
to  the  efforts  in  Philadelphia  of  a  like  nature  : 

I  shall  only  add  that  Oxford,  Leyden,  &c.,  are  too  complex  and 
large  to  be  any  Model  for  us :  the  neighbouring  Colleges  of  New  England, 
Pennsylvania,  &c.,  may  be  kept  chiefly  in  our  Eye  ;  but  tho'  the  People 
of  these  Provinces  have  the  Honor  to  set  us  an  Example  in  this  truly 
noble  WORK,  we  have  the  Advantage  of  seeing  where  they  have  been 
deficient,  and  of  being  sensible  that  Something  might  be  contrived  more 
commodious  than  any  of  their  Schemes. 

4  In  preparing  the  Thoughts  for  the  edition  of  his  Works  published  in  1803, 
Smith  qualified  this  by  making  it  read  "they  were  greatly  indebted,"  &c.  The 
T'toti^uis  were  designed  by  him  as  a  part  of  his  Third  volume,  but  the  published 
Works  only  reached  two  Volumes ;  hence  the  pamphlet  did  not  reach  the  second 
edition. 


1 88        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

These  Thoughts  brought  the  author  into  controversial 
prominence,  and  Philomathes  was  made  the  object  of  the  resent- 
ment of  those  whose  schemes  may  have  been  thwarted  by  his 
careful  reasonings.  Franklin  in  his  letter  to  Smith  of  3  May, 
T753>  which  we  shall  shortly  reach,  affords  us  a  clue  to  this  when 
he  expresses  regret  at  Smith's  expressions  of  resentment  against 
his  adversaries  in  his  Mirania,  where  towards  the  close  he  says  : 

As  for  those  Writers  who  delight  to  give  frequent  Specimens  of  their 
Knack  at  Wrangling  and  Chicane  ;  or,  who  are  determined  to  think 
Nothing  right  in  this  Affair,  but  what  comes  from  themselves,  my  Time  is 
too  precious  to  follow  them  thro'  the  Maze  of  Perplexity.  They  may,  if 
they  please,  ascribe  every  Thing  I  have  done  to  a  Selfish  Motive  ;  I  shall 
leave  it  to  Time  and  the  Issue  of  the  Thing  to  convince  them  how  much 
they  have  injured  me.  It  will  then  be  sufficient  Punishment  for  them  to 
reflect  on  their  Usage  of  One  who  never  offended  them,  but  by  a  Zeal  for 
the  Happiness  of  that  Province,  which  they  ought  to  love  more,  than 
one,  who  is  a  Stranger  in  it.  There  was  no  other  way  I  could  manifest  that 
Zeal  but  on  the  Subject  of  Education,  as  all  the  Time  I  have  lived  in  the 
World  has  been  Spent  on  my  own  Education  and  that  of  others.  *  *  * 
Sorry  should  I  be,  however,  if,  after  all  my  Partiality  in  treating  this 
Matter,  I  should  fall  under  the  Displeasure  of  any  Sect  or  Party,  who  may 
claim  an  exclusive  Right  of  modeling  this  Institution  to  their  Mind.  5 

A  few  months  after  the  publication  of  his  Thoughts,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  up  in  detail,  and  publish  over  his  signature,  his 
plan  of  a  College,  entitled 

A  General  Idea  of  the  College  of  Mirania,  *  *  *  Addressed  more 
immediately  to  the  consideration  of  the  Trustees  nominated  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, to  receive  Proposals,  &c.  relating  to  the  Establishment  of  a  College 
in  New  York  ; 

wherein  under  the  guise  of  an  allegory  he  sketched  out  this  plan. 
He  says : 

While  I  was  ruminating  on  the  constitutions  of  the  several  colleges 
which  I  had  either  personally  visited  or  read  of,  without  being  able  to  fix  on 
any  Thing  I  durst  recommend  as  a  model  worthy  our  Imitation,  I  chanced 
to  fall  into  the  Company  of  a  valuable  young  gentleman,  named  Evander, 
who  is  a  person  of  some  distinction,  of  the  province  of  Mirania.  After 
some  conversation  on  learned  topics,  he  was  led  to  give  me  an  account  of 
a  seminary  established  about  twelve  years  ago  in  that  province  in  which  I 

5  Mirania,  p.  79. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        189 

thought  I  perceived  all  that  seems  excellent  in  the  ancient  and  modern 
Institutions  reduced  to  the  greatest  Method  and  Simplicity.  This  I  have 
presumed  to  propose  to  your  consideration  ;  which  as  it  may  be  further 
improved  by  you,  and  other  learned  Men  among  us,  seems  extremely  well 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  this  Province  of  New  York,  as  we  are  now 
entirely  such  as  the  Miranians  were  when  they  founded  their  College,  with 
Regard  to  Riches,  Trade,  and  the  Number  of  People.6  *  *  *  Evander 
tells  him  about  twelve  years  ago,  the  Miranians  saw  themselves  a  mighty 
and  flourishing  people,  in  possession  af  an  extensive  country,  capable  of 
producing  all  the  necessaries  and  many  of  the  superfluities  of  life.  They 
reflected  that  the  only  method  of  making  these  natural  advantages  of  last- 
ing use  to  themselves  and  posterity,  the  only  infallible  source  of  tranquillity, 
happiness  and  glory,  was  to  contrive  and  execute  a  proper  scheme  for  form- 
ing a  succession  of  sober,  virtuous,  industrious  citizens,  and  checking  the 
course  of  growing  luxury.  They  were  sensible,  that  tho"  a  Combination  of 
lucky  circumstances,  almost  wholly  independent  on  them,  had  raised  them 
so  high,  they  should  be  wanting  to  themselves  if  they  depended  longer  on 
blind  chance  for  any  Thing  which  was  now  in  their  Power  to  command. 
They  were  convinced  that,  without  a  previous  good  Education,  the  best 
Laws  are  little  better  than  Verba  minantia,  and  considered  as  such,  will  be 
duped  and  broke  thro"  with  Impunity  by  illustrious  Villains  ;  that  the 
Magistrate  can  at  best  but  fight  vice  into  a  corner,  and  that  'tis  Education 
alone  can  mend  and  rectify  the  Heart  ;  that  no  Government  can  subsist 
long  on  Violence  and  brute  Force,  and  that  Nature  follows  easily  when 
treated  rationally,  but  will  not  bear  to  be  led,  or  driven . 

They  saw  also,  that  among  the  foreigners,  who  were  as  numerous  as 
the  English,  many  distinctions  were  forming  upon  their  different  customs, 
languages,  and  extractions,  which,  by  creating  separate  interests,  might,  in 
the  issue,  prove  fatal  to  the  government.  They  wisely  judged,  therefore, 
that  nothing  could  so  much  contribute  to  make  such  a  mixture  of  people 
coalesce  and  unite  in  one  common  interest,  as  the  common  education  of 
all  the  youth  at  the  same  public  schools  under  the  eye  of  the  civil  au- 
thority *  *  *  With  these  views  the  Miranians  applied  themselves 
to  project  a  plan  of  education  ;  every  person  of  genius,  learning,  and  expe- 
rience, offering  his  impartial  thoughts  on  this  subject,  whether  they  were  in 
a  private  or  public  capacity  ;  as  being  sensible  that  an  understanding  of 
such  lasting  consequences  demanded  the  united  councils,  the  heads  and 
hearts,  of  a  whole  country  *  *  *  With  regard  to  learning,  the  Mira- 
nians divide  the  whole  body  of  people  into  two  grand  classes.  The  first 
consists  of  those  designed  for  the  learned  professions  ;  by  which  they 
understand  divinity,  law,  physic,  agriculture,  and  the  chief  officers  of  the 
State.  The  second  class  of  those  designed  for  mechanic  professions,  and 

6  Atirania,  p.  8. 


190        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

all  the  remaining  people  of  the  country.  Such  a  division  is  absolutely 
necessary  ;  for,  if  the  shortest  way  of  forming  youth  to  act  in  their  proper 
spheres,  as  good  men  and  good  citizens,  ought  always  to  be  the  object  of 
education,  these  two  classes  should  be  educated  on  a  very  different  plan. 
*  *  *  These  considerations  gave  rise  to  what  is  called  the  Mechanics' 
School  in  this  Seminary.  It  might,  however,  as  well  have  been  called  a 
distinct  college  ;  for  it  is  no  way  connected  with  what  is  called  the  College 
(by  way  of  Distinction)  than  by  being  under  the  Inspection  of  the  same 
Trustees,  and  the  Government  of  the  same  Head,  whom  they  call  Provost 
or  Principal.  Most  of  the  Branches  of  Science,  taught  in  the  College,  are 
taught  in  this  School  ;  but  then  they  are  taught  without  languages,  and  in 
a  more  compendious  manner,  as  the  circumstances  and  Business  of  the 
Mechanic  require.  This  school  is  so  much  like  the  English  School  in 
Philadelphia  first  sketched  out  by  the  very  ingenious  and  worthy  Mr. 
Franklin,  that  a  particular  Account  of  it  here  is  needless . 7 

This  reference  to  the  Philadelphia  Academy  implies  the 
author's  familiarity  with  that  scheme;  and  some  of  the  phrases 
of  Evander's  narrative  echo  the  ideas  more  tersely  expressed 
by  Franklin  in  his  Proposals  and  other  early  papers  on  the 
Academy. — Evander  proceeds  to  describe  the  schools,  and  their 
classes  in  detail,  and  speaks  of  "  the  principal  whose  name  is 
Aratus,"  who  instructed  the  fifth  or  highest  class  in  the  study 
of  agriculture  and  history. 

.#  *  *  Forgive  me,  my  friend  [proceeded  Evander],  if  in  this 
part  of  my  narrative,  I  should  be  tedious,  or  discover  any  unbecoming  rap- 
tures. The  time  spent  in  these  studies  was  the  happiest  period  of  my 
life,  and  which  I  have  often  wished  I  could  begin  again,  a  period  I  can 
never  reflect  upon,  without  feeling  my  bosom  burn,  and  thinking  I  hear 
the  good  Aratus,  with  hands  outstretched,  and  eyes  glowing  affection  and 
devotion,  pouring  important  Truths  from  his  fervent  Tongue,  and  leading 
us  unperceptibly  from  the  visible  to  the  unvisible  things  of  God.  8 

It  was  but  natural  that  Mr.  Smith  should  send  copies  of 
his  piece  to  some  of  those  interested  in  a  work  in  Philadel- 
phia, akin  to  the  efforts  now  making  in  New  York,  and  on 
April  1 1  he  wrote  to  Franklin  enclosing  a  copy  of  his 


7  Afirania,  pp.  9,  IO,  14,  15. 

8  Afirania,  p.  45.     Dr.  Smith  prepared  a  second  edition  of  this  very  entertain- 
ing and  instructive  Essay  for  his  Discourses  of    1762,  "corrected"  by  him,  but  the 
corrections   and  abbreviations  detract  somewhat  from  the  interest  and  style  and  the 
freshness  of  the  edition  of  1753. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       191 

publication  upon  the  ideal  College  of  Mirania,  and  made 
inquiry  about  placing  his  pupils,  the  young  Martins,  in 
the  Philadelphia  Academy,  pending  a  proposed  visit  home 
which  he  appeared  to  be  contemplating  for  the  purpose  among 
others  of  applying  for  Orders  in  the  Church  of  England.  We 
are  not  told  aught  of  Mr.  Smith's  change  of  ecclesiastical 
views,  for  that  he  was  brought  up  in  the  Presbyterian  Kirk  a 
faithful  adherent  to  ,the  Westminster  Confession  we  cannot 
doubt.  It  may  be  that  a  two  years  residence  on  Long  Island, 
where  Yale's  influence  predominated,  led  him  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  painful  separation  Johnson  and  Cutler  and  Brown  had 
made  from  Presbyterianism  thirty  years  before,  and  with  designs 
of  the  ministry  early  in  mind,  he  now  acquiesced  in  the  claims 
of  Episcopacy  and  turned  his  face  to  England  to  seek  Orders, 
though  many  months  elapsed  before  this  consummation.  His 
letter  we  have  not ;  but  Franklin's  letter  is  preserved,  both  the 
original  draft  and  the  letter,  the  latter  omitting  a  paragraph  of 
the  former  which  bore  more  immediately  upon  the  entertainment 
and  instruction  the  Martins  would  find  in  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Smith's  letter  had  evidently  conveyed  the  impression  that  he 
proposed  settling  in  England  on  his  return.  Franklin's  letter 
is  inserted  here  as  originally  drafted,  the  paragraph  withheld 
being  marked  in  brackets.  Mr.  Sparks  gives  the  letter  as  drafted  ; 
Mr.  Smith's  Biographer  with  the  original  letter  in  hand  calls 
attention  to  the  omission  9 

Philadelphia  19  April  1753  10 

Sir.  I  received  your  favor  of  the  nth  instant,  with  your  new  piece 
on  Education  which  I  shall  carefully  peruse  and  give  you  my  sentiments 
of  it,  as  you  desire,  by  next  post. 

[I  believe  the  young  gentlemen,  your  pupils,  may  be  entertained 
and  instructed  here,  in  mathematics  and  philosophy  to  satisfaction.  Mr. 
Alison,  who  was  educated  at  Glasgow,  has  been  long  accustomed  to  teach 
the  latter,  and  Mr.  Grew  the  former,  and  I  think  their  pupils  make  great 
progress.  Mr.  Alison  has  the  care  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  School  ;  but, 
as  he  has  now  three  good  assistants,  he  can  very  well  afford  some  hours 
every  day  for  the  instruction  of  those,  who  are  engaged  in  higher  studies. 
The  mathematical  school  is  pretty  well  furnished  with  instruments.  The 


9  Smith,  i.  23.  lo  Bigelow,  ii.  288.     Sparks,  vii.  63. 


192       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

English  Library  is  a  good  one,  and  we  have  belonging  to  it  a  middling  appa- 
ratus for  experimental  philosophy,  and  purpose  speedily  to  complete  it 
The  Loganian  Library,  one  of  the  best  collections  in  America,  will  shortly 
be  opened  ;  so  that  neither  books  nor  instruments  will  be  wanting  ;  and, 
as  we  are  determined  always  to  give  good  salaries,  we  have  reason  to 
believe  we  may  have  always  an  opportunity  of  choosing  good  masters  ; 
upon  which,  indeed,  the  success  of  the  whole  depends.  We  are  obliged 
to  you  for  your  kind  offer  in  this  respect  ;  and,  when  you  are  settled  in 
England,  we  may  occasionally  make  use  of  your  friendship  and  judg- 
ment.] 

If  it  suits  your  conveniency n  to  visit  Philadelphia  before  your 
return  to  Europe,  I  shall  be  extremely  glad  to  see  and  converse  with  you 
here,  as  well  as  to  correspond  with  you  after  your  settlement  in  England. 
For  an  acquaintance  and  communication  with  men  of  learning,  virtue  and 
public  spirit,  is  one  of  my  greatest  enjoyments. 

I  do  not  know  whether  you  ever  happened  to  see  the  first  proposals 
I  made  for  erecting  this  Academy.  I  send  them  enclosed.  They  had, 
however  imperfect,  the  desired  success,  being  followed  by  a  subscription 
of.  four  thousand  founds  towards  carrying  them  into  execution.  And,  as 
we  are  fond  of  receiving  advice,  and  are  daily  improving  by  experience,  I 
am  in  hopes,  we  shall,  in  a  few  years,  see  a  perfect  institution.  I  am, 
very  respectfully,  &c  B.  Franklin. 

In  a  fortnight  Franklin  took  up  his  pen  to  write  Smith 
further  on  his  College  of  Mirania.  In  this  case  as  the  letter  is 
longer  than  the  draft,  we  quote  it  entire  from  Smith's  Life  and 
Correspondence,  merely  noting  at  foot  the  verbal  changes  and 
the  point  of  addition.  I2 

Philadelphia  3  May  1753 

Sir  :  Mr.  Peters 13  has  just  now  been  with  me,  and  we  have  com- 
pared notes  on  your  new  piece.  We  find  nothing  in  the  scheme  of  educa- 
tion, however  excellent,  but  what  is  in  our  opinion  very  practicable.  The 
great  difficulty  will  be,  to  find  the  Aratus,  and  other  suitable  persons  in 
New  York,  to  carry u  it  into  execution  ;  but  such  may  be  had  if  proper 
encouragement  be  given.  We  have  both  received  great  pleasure  in  the 
perusal  of  it.  For  my  part,  I  know  not  when  I  have  read  a  piece  that  has 
more  affected  me  ;  so  noble  and  just  are  the  sentiments,  so  warm  and 


11  The  letter  reads  :   "  if  it  suits  you  to  visit  Philadelphia."         12  Smith,  i.  23. 

13  In  a  letter  of  this  date  Richard  Peters  writes  to  Thomas  Penn,  "  I  desire 
your  acceptance  of  a  Book  on  Education  sent  me  by  the  Author,  Mr.  William  Smith, 
Tutor  to  Col.  Martin's  children  on  Long  Island,  an  acquaintance  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury." 

u  In  New  York  not  in  draft. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        193 

animated  the  language  ;  yet,  as  censure  from  your  friends  may  be  of  more 
use,  as  well  as  more  agreeable  to  you,  than  praise,  I  ought  to  mention,  that 
I  wish  you  had  omitted,  not  only  the  quotation  from  the  Review,  which 
you  are  now  justly  dissatisfied  with,  but  all  those15  expressions  of  resent- 
ment against  your  adversaries,  in  pages  65  and  79.  In  such  cases  the 
noblest  victory  is  obtained  by  neglect,  and  by  shining  on.  18 

Mr.  Allen  has  been  out  of  town  these  ten  days  ;  but  before  he  went, 
he  directed  me  to  procure  him  six  of  your 17  pieces,  though  he  had  not  and 
has  not  yet  seen  it.18  Mr.  Peters  has  taken  ten.  He  proposed  19  to  have 
written  to  you,  but  omits  it,  as  he  expects  so  soon  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  here.  He  desires  me  to  present  his  affectionate  regards  to  you, 
and  to  assure  you  that  you  will  be  very  welcome  to  him.  I  shall  only  say 
to  you  that  you  may  depend  upon  my  doing  all  in  my  power  to  make  your 
visit  to  Philadelphia  agreeable  to  you.  20  Yet,  me  thinks  I  would  not  have 
you  omit  bringing  a  line  or  two  from  Mr.  Allen.  If  you  are  more  noticed 
here  on  account  of  his  recommendation,  yet  as  that  recommendation  will 
be  founded  upon  your  merit,  known  best  where  you  have  so  long  resided, 
their  notice  may  be  esteemed  to  be  as  much  '  •  on  the  score  of  something 
you"  can  call  your  own,"  as  if  it  were  merely  on  account  of  the  pieces  you 


15  All  not  in  draft. 

16  In  a  letter  from  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  Dr.  Johnson,    19  March,  1754 
when  Mr.  Smith  was  in  London  awaiting  his  ordination,  the  Bishop  says,  "  if  he  had 
pursued  his  intention  of  residing  awhile  at  Oxford,  I  should  -have  hoped  for  more  of 
his  company  and   acquaintance.     Nor   would   he,  I  think,  have   failed  to  see  more 
fully,  what  I  flatter  myself  he  is  convinced  of  without  it,  that  our  Universities  do  not 
deserve  the  sentence  which  is  passed  upon  them   by  the  author  whom  he  cites,  and 
whose  words  he  adopts  in  page  84  of  his   '  General  Idea  of  the  College  of  Mirania.' 
He  assures  me  they  are  effaced  in  almost  all  the  copies.     I  wish  they  had  not  been 
printed,  or  that  the  leaf  had  been  cancelled.     But  the  many  valuable  things  which 
there  is  in  that  performance,  and  in  the  papers  which  he  published  at  New  York,  will 
atone  for  this  blemish  with  all  candid   persons."     Beardsley's   Johnson,   '78.     The 
Bishop's  reference  is  to  the  following  :    "  They  know  little  what  our  English  Univer- 
sities  are   at   present :    For,  to   use   the    words  of  the   authors  of  the   Jfeview,  for 
November,    1750:    'That   even   both  our   Universities   (not    forgetting  that  in  the 
Metropolis  of  a  neighboring  Kingdom)  are  rendered  of  little  use  to  the  Public,  or  to 
the  Welfare  of  Religion,  by  the  idle  Doctrines  and  corrupt  Manners  which  prevail  in 
them,  is  a  Truth  equally  notorious  and  melancholy ;   and  any  effectual  scheme  for  a 
thoro'  Reformation  or  (if  this  is  impossible,  thro'  the  Perverseness  of  their  Members) 
a  total  abolition  of  them  would   merit  the  attention  of  every  Lover  of  his  Country, 
every  Wellwisher  to  true  Christianity,  and  to  civil  and  religious  Liberty.'  "  Afirania, 
p.  84.     On  Smith's  copy  of  the  Mirania,  he  adds  on  the  margin  opposite  these  lines 
"  This  quotation    was  raz'd  out  of  most  of  the  copies   before   they  got  abroad,  the 
author  considering  them  injuriously   applied."     But  for  Franklin's  reference  to  the 
author's  personal  allusion  on  pages  65  and  79  of  Mirania,  we  should  not  now  know  that 
they  were   "expressions  of  resentment  against  his   adversaries;"   thus  early  in  his 
American  career  had  his  active  zeal  in  devising  new  things  been  intensified  by  his 
warm  temperament  and  a  youthful  proneness  to  disputation. 

17  Six  copies  of  your  piece  in  draft. 

18  This  last  phrase  not  in  draft.  19  Purposed  in  draft. 
20  This  ends  the  draft.    The  letter  proceeds. 


194        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

have  written.  I  shall  take  care  to  forward  your  letter  to  Mr.  Miller  by  a 
vessel  that  sails  next  week.  I  proposed  to  have  sent  one  of  the  books  to 
Mr.  Cave,  but  as  it  may  possibly  be  a  disappointment  to  Mr.  Miller  if 
Cave  should  print  it,  I  shall  forbear,  and  only  send  two  or  three  to  some 
particular  friends.  I  thank  you  for  your  information  concerning  the  author 
of  the  dialogues.  I  had  been  misinformed  ;  but  saw  with  concern  in  the 
public  papers  last  year,  an  article  of  news  relating  that  one  Mr.  Fordyce,  21 
the  ingenious  author  of  Dialogues  on  Education,  perished  by  shipwreck  on 
the  coast  of  Holland,  on  returning  home  from  his  tour  to  Italy.  The 
sermon  on  the  ' '  Eloquence  of  the  Pulpit ' '  is  ascribed  in  the  Review  of 
August,  1752,  to  Mr.  James  Fordyce,  Minister  at  Brechin.  I  am,  with 
great  esteem,  Sir,  your  most  humble  servant  B.  Franklin. 

By  the  first  of  June,  Smith  was  in  Philadelphia  with  his 
young  pupils  whom  he  placed  at  the  Academy.  His  satisfac- 
tion on  this  occasion  in  witnessing  the  fruits  of  the  faithful 
work  of  the  Trustees  and  Masters  found  expression  in 

A  POEM  on  visiting  the  ACADEMY  of  Philadelphia,  June,  1753,  [of 
two  hundred  and  seventy  lines,  bearing  on  the  title  page  Virgil's  lines  as 
the  legend  :] 

Inventas  qui  Vitam  excoluere  per  Aries  ; 

Quique  fui  memores  alios  fecere  merendo  ; 

Omnibus  bis  nivea  cinguntur  Tempera  Vitia. 

His  letter  of  Dedication  bears  date  5  June,  and  addresses 
the  Trustees  : 

Gentlemen.  Having  receiv'd  the  intensest  Satisfaction  in  visiting 
your  Academy,  and  examining  some  of  its  higher  Classes,  I  cou'  d  not  be 
easy  "till  I  had  testify' d  that  Satisfaction  in  the  most  public  Manner.  The 
undeserv'd  Notice  many  of  you  were  pleas' d  to  take  of  Me  during  my  Short 
Stay  in  your  City,  and  the  Honor  the  Academy  (when  I  first  went  into  it) 
did  me  in  making  one  of  the  Youth  Speak  a  Copy  of  Verses,  which  I  lately 
wrote  to  promote  the  Interest  of  Science  in  a  neighboring  Province,  might 
claim  my  most  grateful  Acknowledgments.  But  what  I  now  offer  is  a 
Tribute  paid  to  Merit  of  a  more  public  Nature.  A  few  private  Gentlemen 
of  this  City  have,  in  the  Space  of  two  or  three  Years,  projected,  begun,  and 
carried  to  surprizing  Perfection,  a  very  noble  Institution ;  and  an  Institu- 
tion of  that  Kind  too,  which,  in  other  Countries,  has  scarce  made  such  a 


21  David  Fordyce  lost  at  sea,  1751,  brother  of  James.  As  natives  of  Aber- 
deen, these  brothers  may  have  been  personally  known  to  William  Smith ;  hence  the 
present  reference.  Both  received  their  education  at  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  and 
David  was  appointed  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  Marischall  College  in  1742,  the 
year  subsequently  to  William  Smith's  matriculating  at  Kings  College.  Allibone. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        195 

Figure  in  the  Space  of  some  Centuries,  tho'  founded  by  Kings,  and  sup- 
ported at  the  public  Expence. 

Prosecute,  Gentlemen,  yet  a  little  longer  prosecute  your  generous 
Plan,  with  the  same  Spirit  ;  and  your  own  Reputation,  with  that  of  your 
Academy,  shall  be  establish' d,  in  Spite  of  every  Obstacle,  on  a  Bottom 
immortal,  and  never  to  be  Shaken.  A  Succession  of  good  Men  and  good 
Citizens  shall  never  be  wanting  in  Pennsylvania  to  do  Honor  to  your  Mem- 
ories, and  diffuse  Spirit  and  Happiness  thro'  their  Country.  The  Virtues 
to  be  chiefly  inculcated  in  your  Youth  in  order  to  obtain  this  End,  you  know 
better  than  I.  They  are  however  modestly  hinted,  in  the  following  Poem, 
from  a  Mouth  that  cannot  fail  to  give  them  new  Importance.  *  *  *  * 
That  the  Success  of  your  Undertaking  may  still  exceed  even  your  own 
most  sanguine  Hopes,  is  my  earnest  Prayer,  as  it  is  my  firm  Persuasion 
that  such  a  fair  Beginning  cannot  fail  of  the  most  lasting  good  Conse- 
quences. *  *  * 

The  Poem  may  merit  the  quotation  from  it  of  a  few  lines  : 

Heavens  !  how  my  Heart  beat  Rapture,  to  behold 

The  little  Heroes,  decent,  graceful,  bold, 

The  Rostrum  mount,  with  British  Ardor  warm'  d, 

And,  by  the  sacred  Soul  of  Glory  charm' d, 

With  Hands  out-stretch 'd,  rowl,  tingling,  from  their  Tongue, 

Sage  Truths  of  Justice,  Freedom,  Right,  and  Wrong, 

In  numerous  Periods,  sweeter  than  my  Song. 

O  how  the  Sires  glow'd  round,  and  fed  their  Eyes 

Fix'  d  on  their  darling  Sons  in  sweet  surprize  ; 

O  how  the  Sons  were  smit  with  conscious  Fires, 

In  the  animating  Presence  of  their  Sires  ! 

Even  GOD  Himself  exults  in  such  a  Sight ; 

And  Angels  hang  applausive,  in  Mid-flight. 

While  those  bright  Souls  releas'  d  from  earthly  care, 

To  whom  th'  Affairs  of  Kindred-men  are  dear, 

Look  down  triumphant  on  the  lovely  Scene  ; 

And  for  a  While  Suspend  their  heavenly  Strain. 

In  reference  to  the  efforts  now  also  made  in  the  city  of 
New  York  for  a  like  institution  he  at  the  close  gives  these  lines  : 

O  were  the  Joy  compleat ! — But  one  sad  Thought 
Depresses  half  the  Raptures  of  my  Note  ! 
For  can  I  celebrate  such  wisdom  here, 
O  much  lov'd  YORK,  nor  drop  a  duteous  Tear  ? 


196       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Rise,  nobly  rise  !    dispute  the  Prize  with  Those  ; 

As  Athens,  rivaling  Lacedaemon,  rose  ! 

The  illustrious  sisters,  keen  alike  to  seize 

The  Palm  of  Empire,  and  the  Reins  of  Greece, 

Each  rous'  d  by  Each,  fed  high  the  glorious  Fire  ; 

Flam'd,  bustled,  shone — and  had  the  World  admire  ! 

O  Strife  far  nobler,  who  shall  most  excel, 

In  Knowledge,  Arts  of  Peace,  and  Living  well! 

This  nobler  Strife,  ye  nobler 22  Sisters  feed  ! 

Be  yours  the  Contest  in  each  worthy  Deed  ; 

Shine  Godlike  Rivals  for  the  Muses'  Palm  ; 

And  strive  who  first  shall  sway  the  Laureat-realm. 

The  author  closes  with  a  tender  farewell  to  his  pupils, 
whom  in  a  foot  note  he  describes  as 

the  three  eldest  Sons  of  the  Honorable  Josiah  Martin,  Esq,  late  of  Antigua  ; 
They  were  plac'  d  at  the  Academy  of  Philadelphia  at  the '  Time  this  Piece 
was  written : 

Yet  ere  we  close,  O  Muse,  one  Labor  more 

Indulge  where  I  have  labor' d  oft  before. 

Dear  Pupils,  let  the  Lessons  here  imprest, 

Sink  intimate  and  deep  into  your  Breast 

Now  climb  the  Steep  to  Science  in  your  Youth, 

The  Votaries  of  Wisdom,  and  of  Jruth. 

Your  zeal  let  none  within  these  walls  excel ; 

Strive  for  Esteem,  for   Glory,  and  .    .  .   farewell  ! 

This  interesting  and  now  rare  quarto  of  sixteen  pages  was 
printed  by  Franklin  and  Hall,  and  is  announced  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Gazette  of  7  June,  "Next  week  will  be  Published."  The 
College  of  Mirania  is  advertised  in  the  Gazette  of  the  following 
week  "just  published  in  New  York,  and  to  be  sold  by  D.  Hall." 
And  it  was  during  this  brief  visit  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  his 
conferences  with  the  Trustees,  that  William  Smith's  interest  in 
the  young  institution  led  him  to  compile  his  Prayers  for  the  Use 
of  the  PJiiladelphia  Academy,  a  little  tract  of  twenty  pages,  which 
was  also  printed  by  Franklin  and  Hall  in  the  same  year.  This 
includes  "A  Morning  Prayer,  to  be  used  by  every  Scholar  in 


22  The  Cities  of  N'eiu  York  and  Philadelphia. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        197 

his  chamber  at  rising  from  Bed,"  and  "An  Evening  Prayer  to 
be  used  by  every  Scholar  in  his  chamber  at  going  to  Bed," 
besides  "  Publick  Prayer,"  for  both  Morning  and  Evening  in  the 
chapel,  each  consisting  of  Sentences,  Exhortations,  and  Prayers  ; 
and  in  addition,  embracing  The  Ten  Commandments,  The 
Apostles'  Creed,  and  the  Duty  to  God  and  towards  my  Neigh- 
bour, from  the  Church  of  England  Catechism.  An  Evening 
Prayer  is  the  following  : 

Be  favourable  to  all  Seminaries  of  sound  Learning  and  virtuous 
Education  ;  vouchsafe  to  shower  down  thy  peculiar  Blessings  on  all  those 
who  are  in  the  Trust,  Direction  and  Management  of  this  Academy,  upon 
the  Institution  itself,  and  upon  all  those  who  are  in  any  ways  concerned  in 
or  related  to  it.  Help  them  to  put  it  upon  the  best  Foundation,  and  to 
form  from  Time  to  Time  such  Orders  and  Regulations  in  it  as  will  best 
promote  thy  Glory,  and  the  Establishment  of  solid  and  useful  Learning.  'a 

Thus  the  first  visit  of  William  Smith  to  Philadelphia  created 
and  secured  impressions  which  left  no  room  for  other  wish  than 
that  he  might  be  induced  to  make  the  city  his  home,  and 
the  evidence  presented  him  as  to  the  stable  foundation  of  the 
Academy  and  its  bright  promises  of  future  usefulness  and  repu- 
tation left  no  doubt  that  he  would  accept  a  connection  with  it. 
Nothing  official  appears  to  have  passed,  neither  records  nor  cor- 
respondence affording  us  any  information  on  this.  His  visit  to 
Philadelphia  was  brief,  as  he  says  in  his  dedication  of  the  Poem, 
"  The  Performance  is  far  inferior  to  the  Subject ;  but  an  Apology 
will  not  mend  it.  As  I  have  no  time  to  improve  it  during  my 
Stay  in  America,"  &c.,  thus  he  may  have  at  once  sailed  for 
home,  and  this  explains  why  he  left  his  young  pupils  in  Phila- 
delphia at  this  time.  He  could  have  made  but  a  brief  visit  to 
Scotland,  for  we  find  him  again  in  New  York  by  October ;  and 
his  biographer  tells  us  he  sailed  thence  again  on  13  October, 


23  The  University  recently  came  into  the  possession  of  one  of  the  two  only 
copies  of  these  Prayers  known  to  us  of  these  days.  The  publication  is  not  referred 
<o  by  Dr.  Smith's  Biographer,  and  was  also  unknown  to  Mr.  Hildeburn  when  print- 
ing, in  1885,  his  /ssufs  of  the  Pennsylvania  Press,  1685-1784.  Could  the  seed  of  this 
have  been  Bishop  Ken's  Manual  of  Prayers  for  the  use  of  the  Scholars  of  Win- 
chester College  ?  A  copy  of  the  edition  of  1700  of  this  little  formulary  was  in  the 
Library  of  the  late  Professor  Henry  Reed. 


198       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

I753,24  landing  in    London    on   I    December.      Franklin  now 
writes  him  : 

Philadelphia,  27  November  1753. 

Dear  Sir  :  Having  written  to  you  fully,25  via  Bristol,  I  have  now  little 
to  add.  Matters  relating  to  the  Academy  remain  in  statu  quo.  The  trus- 
tees would  be  glad  to  see  a  Rector  established  there,  but  they  dread  entering 
into  new  Engagements  till  they  are  got  out  of  debt  ;  and  I  have  not  yet  got 
them  wholly  to  my  Opinion,  that  a  good  Professor  or  Teacher  of  the  higher 
Branches  of  Learning,  would  draw  so  many  Scholars  as  to  pay  great  Part, 
if  not  the  whole  of  his  Salary.  Thus,  unless  the  Proprietors  [of  the 
provinces]  shall  think  fit  to  put  the  finishing  Hand  to  our  Institution,  it 
must,  I  fear,  wait  some  few  years  longer  before  it  can  arrive  at  that  State 
of  Perfection,  which  to  me  it  seems  now  capable  of ;  and  all  the  Pleasure  I 
promised  myself  in  seeing  you  settled  among  us,  vanishes  into  smoke. 

But  good  Mr  Collinson  writes  me  Word  that  no  Endeavors  of  his 
shall  be  wanting  ;  and  he  hopes,  with  the  Archbishop's  Assistance,  to  be 
able  to  prevail  with  our  Proprietors.  I  pray  God  grant  them  success.  My 
son  presents  his  affectionate  regards,  with 

Dear  Sir,  yours,  etc  B.  Franklin. 

P.  S.  I  have  not  been  favored  with  a  line  from  you  since  you  arrived 
in  England.26 

Mr  Smith  at  once  communicated  with  the  church  authori- 
ties and  sending  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  a  copy  of  his 
Mirania,  received  from  him  a  reply  on  10  December  : 

I  have  read  over  your  Mirania,  and  am  pleased  with  the  Design.  It 
is  a  very  comprehensive  one,  and  if  you  cannot  execute  the  whole  you  must 
go  as  far  as  you  can .  When  you  form  it  into  a  plan  for  public  use,  you 
will  cut  off  some  of  those  Luxuriances  which  perhaps  are  more  of  amuse- 
ment than  instruction.  You  see  I  am  somewhat  free  with  you.  I  shall  be 
glad  to  find  that  the  schemes  for  yourself  are  like  to  succeed,  being  confi- 
dent you  will  do  your  duty  conscientiously . 


24  Smith,  i.   28,29.     Dr.  Franklin   in   his   letter  of  1 8  April,  1754,  acknowl- 
edges Dr.  Smith's  letter  of  1 8  October  from    England   acquainting  Franklin  that  he 
"had  written  largely"  before  that;  and  we  have    the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's 
letter  of  13  September  to  Thomas   Penn  beginning,  "The  bearer  of  this,  Mr.  Wm. 
Smith,  is  desirous  of  being  known  and  recommended  to  you,  &c."     His  passage  in 
return  to  America  must  have  been  a  short  one,  especially  if  he  had  waited  to  present 
in  person  the  Archbishop's  letter  of  introduction  to  Thomas  Penn  ere  he  sailed ;  but 
the  dates  of  this  correspondence,  and  the  biographer's  record  are  not  reconcilable. 

25  This  letter  is  not  in  existence. 

26  Smith,  i.  28;  Bigelow,  ii.  335.     The  draft  of  this  letter  in  possession  of  Dr. 
T.  Hewson  Bache,  on  the  third  line  reads,  "  A  majority  of  the    trustees  I  find  would 
be  glad,"  &c.,  &c.     The  postscript  is  not  in  Bigelow  or  Sparks,  but  is  in  the  draft,  as 
here  given. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        199 

Meanwhile,  he  lost  no  time  in  seeking  his  entrance  into  the 
ministry ;  and  on  2 1  December,  in  Fulham  Palace,  he  was 
ordained  Deacon  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  on  the  23d  was 
ordained  Priest  by  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  each  acting  for  the 
aged  and  infirm  Sherlock,  Bishop  of  London,  who  was  present 
at  the  services.  There  were  ordained  with  him  Samuel  Seabury, 
William  Skerrington,  Francis  Hoyland,  and  James  Pasteur. 
Seabury  was  two  years  his  junior;  brought  up  in  boyhood  at 
Hempstead,  Long  Island,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  he  ministered 
as  a  layman  on  behalf  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  up  to  July, 
1752,  when  he  crossed  the  ocean  to  pursue  his  studies  at  Edin- 
burgh University  ;  he  must  have  formed  Smith's  acquaintance 
shortly  after  the  latter  reached  Long  Island  in  Mr  Martin's 
family,  for  Smith  was  of  too  active  a  temperament  to  remain 
unknown  to  any  man  of  education  within  his  reach,  and  it  may 
be  that  from  Samuel  Seabury  he  derived  some  of  those  ideas  of 
Episcopacy  which  helped  him  to  a  determination  in  his  ecclesi- 
astical career.  They  returned  to  America  about  the  same  time  ; v 
but  we  have  no  knowledge  of  their  again  meeting  until  1789 
when  assembled  in  Philadelphia  the  Council  of  the  American 
Episcopal  Church,  in  which  sat  Samuel  Seabury  and  Smith's 
early  college  pupil  William  White,  and  where  Smith's  instru- 
mentalities for  concord  and  union  among  all  sections  proved  so 
potent  to  the  strengthening  of  the  church. 

Three  days  after  his  ordination  Rev.  William  Smith  started 
North  to  see  his  father,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  he 
records  in  his  Diary  "  preached  in  the  Kirk  in  which  I  was  bap- 
tized." Before  his  return  to  America  he  engaged  the  interest 
of  the  Propagation  Society  in  the  matter  of  education  of  the 
German  emigrants  in  Pennsylvania,  in  which  he  felt  much  con- 
cern which  was  increased  on  his  return  to  Pennsylvania,  when 
he  actively  participated  in  a  local  movement  there  for  that  pur- 


27  Mr.  Smith  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  his  return  on  22  May,  1754,  and  Mr. 
Seabury  reached  his  mission  at  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  on  25  May;  it  is  possible 
both  were  fellow  passengers  on  the  Falcon.  In  1789  on  Bishop  Seabury's  visit  to 
Philadelphia  he  was  the  guest  of  Dr.  Smith,  then  a  resident  of  the  South  East  corner 
of  Chestnut  and  Fifth  Streets. 


2OO       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

pose ;  it  was  a  matter  not  only  of  religious  bearing  but  of  political, 
as  it  was  then  feared  that  the  ignorance  of  the  German  emigrants 
in  regard  to  our  language  and  laws  made  them  easy  prey  to  the 
designs  of  French  emissaries  who  sought  all  means  to  weaken 
British  interests  in  the  Middle  Colonies.  He  formed  some 
design  of  remaining  at  Oxford  for  further  study.  Dr.  Seeker, 
then  Bishop  of  Oxford,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
in  a  letter  of  19  March  to  Dr.  Johnson  already  quoted  thanked 
him  "  for  his  favors  by  Mr.  Smith.  He  is,  indeed,  a  very  inge- 
nious and  able,  and  seems  a  very  well-disposed  young  man, 
and  if  he  had  pursued  his  intention  of  residing  awhile  at 
Oxford,  I  should  have  hoped  for  more  of  his  company  and 
acquaintance." 

Franklin  again  writes  him,  apparently  uncertain  of  his 
plans  and  intentions,  which  were  doubtless  unformed  at  the 
time,  and  which  accounts  for  the  infrequency  of  his  letters  to 
Philadelphia,  but  the  letter  did  not  reach  him  as  he  had  already 
sailed  from  England  :  ^ 

Philadelphia  April  18  1754. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  had  but  one  letter  from  you  since  your  arrival  in 
England,  which  was  but  a  short  one,  via  Boston,  dated  Oct.  18  [?] 
acquainting  me  that  you  had  written  largely  by  Captain  Davis. — Davis 
was  lost  and  with  him  your  letters,  to  my  great  disappointment.  Mesnard 
and  Gibbon  have  since  arrived  here,  and  I  hear  no-thing  from  you.  My 
comfort  is,  in  imagination  that  you  only  omit  writing  because  you  are 
coming,  and  propose  to  tell  me  everything  viva  voce.  So  not  knowing 
whether  this  letter  will  reach  you,  and  hoping  either  to  see  or  hear  from 
you  by  the  Myrtilla,  Capt.  Budden's  ship,  which  is  daily  expected,  I  only 
add,  that  I  am,  with  great  esteem  and  affection,  Yours  etc  B.  Franklin. 

On  22    May,  Mr.  Smith   landed   in   Philadelphia,  from  the 
Falcon,  having  sailed  from   London  5   April.      His  biographer 
tells  us,  "  during  the  voyage   he  wrote  several  essays  on  educa- 
tion, which  were  afterwards  published  in  the  Antigua  Gazette"  : 
He  was  now  at  the  threshold  of   his  life's  best   work,  and  with 


28  Smith,  i.  44.  This  letter  is  not  found  in  either  Sparks  or  Bigelow,  nor  refer- 
ence thereto.     There  is  an  error  in  the  date  of  the  letter  named,  for  Mr.  Smith  was 
then  on  the  ocean,  having  sailed,  it  is  said,  on  13  October.     See  ante. 

29  Smith,  i.  44. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       201 

his  accustomed  energy  and  vivacity  lost  no  time  in  consummating 
his  plans. 

Three  days  after  his  arrival,  a  Meeting  of  the  Trustees  was 
summoned,  and  there  attended,  as  the  roll  in  order  recites, 
Messrs.  Franklin,  Shippen,  Leech,  Peters,  Taylor,  Inglis,  Cad- 
walader,  Plumsted,  Tho:  Bond,  Francis,  Allen,  M'Call,  Masters, 
Phin.  Bond,  White,  Willing,  Syng,  and  Coleman,  when 

the  Question  being  put,  Whether  it  be  necessary  at  this  Time  to  provide  a 
Person  in  the  Academy  to  teach  Logick,  Rhetorick,  Ethicks  and  Natural 
Philosophy  ?  it  was  carried  in  the  affirmative  by  a  great  majority. 

It  being  proposed  that  Mr.  William  Smith,  a  Gentleman  lately  arrived 
from  London  should  be  entertain'd  for  sometime  upon  Trial,  to  teach  the 
above  mentioned  Branches  of  Learning,  in  Case  he  will  undertake  it  ;  the 
same  was  agreed  to,  and  Mr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Peters  are  desired  to  speak 
with  him  about  it.  [No  terms  were  then  set  for  his  remuneration  ;  and  it 
was  not  until  the  meeting  of  II  July,  1755,  that  this  was  defined:]  the 
Question  being  put,  whether  the  Salary  of  the  Provost  shall  be  Two  Hun- 
dred Pounds  per  annum  carried  in  the  affirmative  by  a  great  Majority, 
and  resolved  that  it  shall  commence  from  the  Time  of  his  first  being 
employed  in  the  Academy. 

This  was  the  amount  of  Mr.  Alison's  salary  from  the  outset,  as 
it  had  been  that  of  Mr.  Martin,  the  first  Rector.  To  this,  however, 
was  added  an  annuity  to  Mr.  Smith  of  ,£50  per  annum  from  Thos. 
Penn,  in  compliance  with  a  request  made  him  in  1754  "  when  the 
state  of  the  Academy  made  it  necessary  to  open  schools  in  the 
higherbranches  of  Learning,  begginghis  assistance  to  enable  them 
to  employ  a  fit  Person  to  instruct  the  Youth  in  the  Arts  and 
Sciences."  The  addition  to  the  Provost's  salary  from  this 
generous  source  continued  until  1761,  when  Mr.  Penn's  gift  of 
his  one-fourth  part  of  Perkasie  Manor  was  accepted  with  the 
understanding  that  this  sum  was  now  to  be  assumed  by  the 
Trustees.  M  The  Treasurer's  account  confirms  the  entry  in  Mr. 
Smith's  Diary,  "  25  May,  1754  commenced  teaching  in  the  phil- 
osophy class,  also  ethics  and  rhetoric  to  the  advanced  pupils. 
I  have  two  classes,  a  senior  and  a  junior  one."  It  was  at  the 
meeting  previous  to  the  action  had  relating  to  the  salary, 
namely  30  June  1755  that  it  was  "  Proposed,  That  the  Trustees 

30  Minutes  10  February,  1761. 


2O2       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

visit  Mr.  Smith's  School  on  Thursday  next,  and  inform  them- 
selves particularly  what  Branches  of  Learning  and  Science  he 
teaches  the  Students  under  his  care,  and  the  Proficiency  they 
have  made  ;  "  the  result  of  which  was  so  satisfactory  that  they 
voted  his  salary  at  the  subsequent  meeting. 

Mr.  Smith's  Diary  could  not  have  been  a  cotemporary 
record,  and  in  after  times  he  may  have  made  leading  entries 
which  will  account  for  the  entry  immediately  preceding  the  one 
just  quoted  ;  and  which  in  fact  anticipated  by  ten  months  the 
actual  appointment,  viz:  "24th  May  1754.  I  was  this  day  in- 
ducted Provost  of  the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy."31  But  the  College  had 
no  existence  until  the  new  charter  of  1755,  under  which,  at  the 
meeting  of  7  March,  1755,  twenty  of  the  Trustees  attending, 
"  in  Pursuance  of  the  proposed  new  Institution,  Mr.  William 
Smith  was  chosen  Provost  and  Mr.  Francis  Alison  Vice  Pro- 
vost and  Rector,  and  their  names  order'd  to  be  accordingly 
inserted  in  the  Draught  of  the  new  Charter."  In  a  note  on  the 
margin  of  this  Minute  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr.  Smith,  added 
some  years  later,  it  appears  they  then  were  "both  unanimously  " 
elected. 

We  soon  have  an  insight  into  the  workings  of  the  Acad- 
emy as  Mr.  Smith  found  them,  in  his  letter  of  18  July  following 
written  to  Dr.  Peters  then  at  Albany  in  attendance  on  a  council 
with  the  Six  Nations.  As  Smith  was  landing  in  Philadelphia 
the  colonies  were  alive  with  fears  of  war  with  France,  and  the 
importance  was  felt  of  counteracting  the  influence  to  be  wielded 
by  that  nation  with  the  Indians.  The  fears  were  not  groundless, 
and  as  many  of  the  Trustees  were  on  duty  in  public  service  in 
this  and  the  following  year,  the  Professors  and  Tutors  had  less 
of  their  aid  and  countenance  than  in  the  piping  times  of  peace. 

Smith  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Samuel  Chandler,  written  30  May 
says:  "  Messrs.  Peters  and  Franklin  are  to  be  sent  out  on  Monday 
next  as  commissioners  from  the  province  to  the  general  treaty, 


31  Smith,  i.  45  ;  being  a  day  earlier  than   the   meeting   of  the  Trustees  above 
quoted. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       203 

to  be  held  with  the  Five  Nations  at  Albany,  in  New  York,  on 
the  1 4th  of  next  month."32  Franklin  in  his  autobiography 
describes  the  opening  of  this  drama,  and  the  meeting  which 
he  was  about  attending  was  made  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
the  country  as  giving  him  the  occasion  to  present  his  famous 
plan  of  union  of  all  the  colonies.  At  the  instant  of  time  when 
he  had  finally  secured  William  Smith  to  become  one  of  the 
faculty  of  the  Academy  and  to  lead  onwards  and  upwards  the 
well  digested  aims  of  the  institution,  he  was  then  preparing  this 
famous  plan  of  a  constitutional  confederation,  having  the 
prescience  of  a  seer  that  some  kind  of  union  of  English  interests 
in  this  cis-Atlantic  must  be  effected  ere  many  years  would  elapse. 
In  his  Gazette  of  9  May,  when  narrating  the  capture  by  the 
French  of  Capt.  Trent's  party  at  the  Ohio  Forks,  he  concluded 
with  a  reference  to  the  necessity  of  a  union  of  the  colonies  for 
"  one  common  defence  and  security,"  and  closes  with  the  illus- 
tration by  a  wood  cut  of  a  snake  divided  into  several  parts  with 
the  legend  JOIN  OR  DIE  ;  an  effective  picture  which  was  often 
reproduced  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution.  His  auto- 
biography narrates  the  steps  leading  to  this  : M 

In  1754,  war  with  France  being  again  apprehended,  a  congress  ot 
commissioners  from  the  different  colonies  was,  by  an  order  of  the  Lords  of 
Trade,  to  be  assembled  at  Albany,  there  to  confer  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Six 
Nations  concerning  the  means  of  defending  both  their  country  and  ours. 
Governor  Hamilton,  having  receiv'd  this  order,  acquainted  the  House  with 
it,  requesting  they  would  furnish  proper  presents  for  the  Indians,  to  be 
given  on  this  occasion  ;  and  naming  the  speaker  (Mr.  Norris)  and  myself 
to  join  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  and  Mr.  Secretary  Peters  as  commissioners  to 
act  for  Pennsylvania.  The  House  approv'd  the  nomination,  and  provided 
the  goods  for  the  present,  and  tho'  they  did  not  much  like  treating  out  of 
the  provinces  ;  and  we  met  the  other  commissioners  at  Albany  about  the 
middle  of  June.  In  our  way  thither,  I  projected  and  drew  a  plan  for  the 
union  of  all  the  colonies  under  one  government,  so  far  as  might  be  neces- 
sary for  defense,  and  other  important  general  purposes.  As  we  pass'd 
thro'  New  York,  I  had  then  shown  my  project  to  Mr.  James  Alexander 
and  Mr.  Kennedy,  two  gentlemen  of  great  knowledge  in  public  affairs, 
and,  being  fortified  by  their  approbation,  I  ventur'd  to  lay  it  before 
the  Congress.  It  then  appeared  that  several  of  the  commissioners  had 

81  Smith,  i.  45.  M  Bigelow,  i.  242. 


2O4        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

form'd  plans  of  the  same  kind.  A  previous  question  was  first  taken, 
-whether  a  union  should  be  established,  which  passed  in  the  affirmative 
unanimously.  A  committee  was  then  appointed,  one  member  from  each 
colony,  to  consider  the  several  plans  and  report  Mine  happened  to  be 
preferr'  d,  and,  with  a  few  amendments,  was  accordingly  reported. 

Mr.  Bancroft  says  of  this  statesman's  plan  : 

New  England  colonies  in  their  infancy  had  given  birth  to  a 
confederacy.  William  Penn,  in  1697,  had  proposed  an  annual  congress 
of  all  the  provinces  on  the  continent  of  America,  with  power  to  regulate 
commerce.  Franklin  revived  the  great  idea,  and  breathed  into  it 
enduring  life.  As  he  descended  the  Hudson,  the ,  people  of  New  York 
thronged  about  him  to  welcome  him  ;  and  he,  who  had  first  entered 
their  city  as  a  runaway  apprentice,  was  revered  as  the  mover  of  American 
Union.  34 


XXVI, 

Instruction  as  well  as  interest  calls  for  some  attention  in 
these  pages  to  the  great  political  movements  of  the  day,  seeing 
that  the  hand  which  was  so  often  seen  and  felt  in  them  was  the 
same  that  was  in  like  kind  seen  and  felt  in  the  local  institution 
whose  narrative  we  are  pursuing  ;  and  we  can  thus  obtain  the  lights 
and  shadows  of  its  life  which  might  otherwise  remain  hidden  from 
our  eyes.  We  turn  now  to  Mr.  Smith's  letter  to  Dr.  Peters, 
which  is  doubly  entertaining  as  illustrating  how  in  less  than  a 
two  months'  domicile  in  the  colony  his  versatile  mind  had  already 
formed  decided  views  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day,  and 
which  in  the  present  case  would  be  acceptable  to  his  corre- 
spondent : 

1  Philadelphia  18  July  1754. 

Dear  Sir.  As  we  have  not  heard  from  you  this  Post,  I  am  at  some 
loss  how  to  direct  to  you,  but  presume  this  will  find  you  at  New  York.  I 


34  History  of  the  United  States,  iv.   125.  l  Smith,  i.  49. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       205 

wish  your  Congress  with  the  Indians  may  turn  out  to  the  advantage  of  the 
British  cause,  which  has  received  a  fatal  blow  by  the  entire  defeat  of 
Washington,  whom  I  cannot  but  accuse  of  Foolhardiness  to  have  ventured 
so  near  a  vigilant  enemy  without  being  certain  of  their  numbers,  or  waiting 
for  junction  of  some  hundreds  of  our  best  Forces,  who  were  within  a  few 
Days'  March  of  him.  But  perhaps  what  is  (in  this  case)  is  right ;  as  it 
may  open  the  eyes  of  our  Assembly. 

As  I  hope  soon  to  see  you  I  shall  say  nothing  about  the  Academy. 
A  Resolution  which  my  worthy  Friend,  Col.  Martin,  is  like  to  take,  affects 
me  much,  as  it  must  be  attended  with  an  irreparable  Loss  to  his  children, 
for  which  Reason  and  none  other  you  may  endeavour,  as  I  have  already 
done,  to  divert  him  from  it ;  and  I  doubt  not  his  good  sense  will  take  it  in 
this  Light  both  from  you  and  me.  I  know  his  children.  They  know  and 
I  hope  love  me.  Now  in  about  a  twelvemonth  their  Education  will  be 
finished  on  the  plan  I  have  proposed.  What  is  most  useful  in  Logic  they 
have  already  acquired.  Moral  Philosophy  we  have  begun,  and  against 
the  vacation  in  October  shall  have  completed  what  we  intend.  Greek  and 
Latin  they  continue  to  read  at  proper  Hours,  together  with  two  Hours 
every  Day  at  Mathematics.  From  October  till  February  or  March  we  shall 
be  employ' d  in  reading  some  ancient  Compositions  critically,  in  applying 
the  Rules  of  Rhetoric  and  in  attempting  some  Imitations  of  these  most 
finished  Models  in  our  own  Language.  This  I  take  to  be  the  true  way  of 
Learning  Rhetoric,  which  I  should  choose  to  put  off  until  after  the  study 
of  natural  Philosophy  had  we  any  apparatus  ready,  because  in  order  to 
write  well  we  should  have  at  least  a  general  notion  of  all  the  sciences  and 
their  relations  one  to  another.  This  not  only  furnishes  us  with  sentiments 
but  perspicuity  in  writing,  as  one  science  frequently  has  Light  thrown  upon 
it  by  another.  In  the  Spring  we  shall  spend  5  or  6  weeks  in  such  experi- 
ments in  natural  Philosophy  as  we  shall  be  able  to  exhibit  The  rest  of 
the  Summer  may  be  usefully  spent  in  the  Elements  of  civil  Law,  the 
reading  of  History  and  the  study  of  the  Ends  and  Uses  of  Society,  the 
different  Forms  of  Government,  &c  &c.  All  this  I  hope  we  shall  be  able 
to  give  our  higher  Class  a  sketch  of,  several  of  whom,  particularly  Mr. 
Martin's  sons,  have  capacity  enough  for  such  a  course  of  Reading.  Now, 
sir,  I  appeal  to  you  whether,  for  the  sake  of  one  year,  it  would  be  prudent 
in  Mr.  Martin  to  change  his  son's  Masters  and  Method  ?  Would  he  con- 
sult their  Interest  if,  for  that  short  time,  he  should  interrupt  the  many 
acquaintances  they  are  forming  at  our  academy,  which  may  be  of  use  to 
them  while  they  live,  and  which  they  cannot  expect  at  New  York,  where 
there  will  not  be  for  some  time  above  8  or  10  Boys  (unless  they  depart 
from  the  odd  plan  they  have  proposed),  and  not  one  Boy  can  be  classed 
with  Mr.  Martin's  sons. 

All  this  I  say  upon  the  supposition  their  Education  could  be  com- 


206       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

pleted  as  well  in  New  York  as  here.  But  this  is  impossible  at  first.  For 
Dr  Johnson  only  pretends  to  teach  Logic  and  Moral  Philosophy,  both 
which  the  Martins  will  have  gone  thro'  before  Dr  Johnson  begins,  and 
should  he  begin  them  again,  his  Logic  and  Morality  are  very  different  from 
ours.  There  is  no  Matter  by  his  scheme.  No  ground  of  Moral  Obliga- 
tion. Life  is  a  Dream.  All  is  from  the  immediate  Impressions  of  the 
Deity — Metaphysical  Distinctions  which  us  Men  and  surely  no  Boy  can 
understand.  I  fear  much  will  come  in  the  place  of  fixing  virtue  on  her  true 
Bottom  and  forming  the  Taste  of  elegant  writing.  But  further,  whom  have 
they  at  New  York  for  Mathematics  or  Nat.  Philosophy,  which  are  not  the 
Dr's  province  ?  Whom  for  teaching  the  Belles  Lettres  ?  Where  is  their 
apparatus  ?  Where  a  sufficient  number  of  Students  for  public  school  acts 
&  Disputation  ?  Thus,  then,  you  see  if  Mr  Martin  takes  his  sons  from  this 
place  he  must  fix  them  at  New  York  so  far  advanced  that  they  cannot 
carry  them  one  step  farther,  and  thereby  I  wonder  what  could  induce  Dr 
Johnson,  whose  worth  and  Integrity  I  know,  to  strive  to  persuade  Mr 
Martin  to  remove  his  sons  from  a  Seminary  where  they  have  reaped  great 
Benefit,  &  where  their  Education  must  soon  be  finished.  To  me,  who 
know  what  they  have  done,  what  they  can  do  and  what  they  want  to  do,  it 
clearly  appears  such  a  step  would  absolutely  mar  their  Education  and  I 
doubt  not  it  would  appear  so  to  you.  I  have  stated  the  case  to  Col  Martin, 
but  could  say  a  Thousand  things  more  if  I  saw  him.  I  beg  you  to  speak 
to  him,  if  you  should  go  to  Long  Island  on  purpose.  You  love  doing  good, 
and  you  never  can  have  such  an  opportunity  of  serving  that  Gentleman, 
who,  not  having  a  liberal  education,  may  be  easily  misled  on  a  point  the 
most  important  of  all  others,  Did  I  not  see  it  in  this  light  I  would  scorn 
to  say  one  word  on  the  subject.  'Tis  true,  I  had  reason  to  think  what  I 
have  already  done  for  his  sons  would  make  him  glad  of  finishing  their 
studies  under  one  who  knows  and  loves  them  ;  but  if  their  Interest  were  not 
at  stake,  his  Design  of  removing  them  would  only  so  far  affect  my  pride  as  to 
make  me  resent  the  usage  with  Silent  Contempt .  I  would  never  wish  that 
the  Character  of  an  Academy  or  mine  in  particular  should  want  any  other 
Basis  but  what  is  intrinsic  and  may  be  seen  by  all. 

My  compliments  to  our  dear  Franklin.  We  are  in  hopes  he  will 
return  with  you.  I  beg  also  to  be  remembered  to  Mr.  Penn,  Mr.  Morris 
and  all  your  company,  as  also  to  the  Gov'r'mt  and  as  many  of  my  New 
York  Friends  as  are  pleased  to  think  of  me.  The  clergy  there  I  do  not 
forget.  Excuse  my  haste  &  the  length  of  this,  which  flows  from  honest 
zeal  for  the  wellfare  of  my  dear  pupils.  Yours  affectionately 

William  Smith 

From  this  letter  we  gather  an  insight  into  the  beginnings  of 
Kings  College,  of  which  Dr.  Johnson  had  assumed  the  Presidency 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       207 

but  a  few  weeks  before.  The  controversies  which  surrounded 
its  birth,  and  of  which  indeed  it  was  made  the  occasion,  forbad 
Dr.  Johnson  working  out  a  full  curriculum  at  once,  and  in  Mr. 
Smith's  warm  concern  for  his  pupils  he  was  loth  to  have  them  go 
thither  under  the  circumstances  and  away  from  his  tutelage  ; 
though  it  was  alike  reasonable  for  Mr.  Martin  to  desire  his  sons 
entered  at  a  college  nearer  home,  the  support  of  which  was  sought 
for  from  every  active  Churchman.  But  death  soon  solved  the 
question  for  one  of  the  lads  :  William  Thomas  Martin,  the  second 
son,  died  after  a  brief  illness  on  28th  of  August,  1754.  And 
on  Sunday,  I  September,  the  day  after  the  funeral,  Mr.  Smith 
preached  a  sermon  in  Christ  Church  "  On  the  Death  of  a  Beloved 
Pupil,"  the  first  of  his  published  discourses.  With  the  sermon 
there  were  printed  "  A  Collection  of  the  Tears  "  of  a  few  young 
gentlemen  who  were  fellow  students  of  the  deceased,  in  verse,  the 
writers  being  Francis  Hopkinson,  Samuel  Magaw,  Jacob  Duche 
and  Paul  Jackson,  with  lines  also  from  Thomas  Barton.  Hop- 
kinson's  lines  open  and  conclude  thus  : 

I  call  no  aid,  no  muses  to  inspire, 
Or  teach  my  breast  to  feel  a  poet' s  fire  ; 
Your  soft  expression  of  a  grief  sincere, 
Brings  from  our  soul  a  sympathetic  tear 

*  *  *  * 

This  only  truth  permits  me  to  disclose, 

That  in  your  own,  you  represent  my  woes  ; 

And  sweeter  than  my  song,  is  your  harmonious  prose. 

In  an  obituary  of  the  young  man  and  a  notice  of  the  sermon 
printed  in  the  Gazette,  5  September  it  is  said  : 

Our  Academy  has  been  remarkably  happy,  in  sustaining  so  few  Losses 
of  this  kind.  For  since  it  was  first  open' d  this  is  but  the  second  Youth 
that  has  died,  in  more  than  the  Space  of  four  Years  :  which  among  several 
Hundreds  that  have  been  constantly  educating  in  it,  is  uncommon,  as  it 
has  been  long  observ'  d,  in  all  the  Schools  and  Colleges  of  Europe,  that 
one  out  of  an  Hundred  dies  one  Year  with  another.  Our  City  was  never 
known,  upon  the  whole,  so  healthy  in  the  Month  of  August,  as  this  year, 
nor  have  we  ever  had  fewer  Deaths  *  *  *  As  the  Preacher  seem'd 
sensibly  touch' d  with  his  subject,  and  was  known  to  have  loved  the 


208        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Deceased,  who  had  grown  up  under  him  for  several  Years,  and  was  a 
Plant  reared  by  his  own  Hand,  the  Discourse  had  a  very  great  effect  upon 
the  Audience.  It  is  now  in  the  Press,  by  the  particular  Desire  and  Advice 
of  some  who  heard  it,  and  will  be  published  about  the  Middle  of  next 
week.  2 

During  Franklin's  absence  in  the  early  part  of  1755  in  a 
tour  in  the  New  England  States,  he  visited  New  Haven,  at 
which  time  at  a  reception  in  College  Hall  the  Rev'd  Ezra  Stiles, 
an  alumnus  of  1746,  then  a  Tutor,  and  in  1778  President  of 
Yale  College  pronounced  a  Latin  oration  in  compliment  to  him. 
Franklin's  friendship  with  the  Rev.  Jared  Eliot,  one  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  College,  and  acquaintance  with  President  Clap  had  in- 
duced him  in  1749  to  send  an  electrical  machine  to  the  College  ; 
and  the  experiments  made  with  it  at  this  time  by  Mr.  Stiles  are 
claimed  to  have  been  the  first  of  the  kind  in  New  England.3 


2  "  Personal  Affliction  and  frequent  Reflection  upon  human  Life  of  great 
Use  to  lead  man  to  the  Remembrance  of  God."  A  Sermon,  &c.,  Printed  by  B. 
Franklin  and  D.  Hall,  1754. 

3  Yale  College,  Kingsley.  i.  78,  103.  This  oration,  "  In  Gratulatione  Nobilis- 
simi  et  Amplissimi  vivi  B.  FRAMCLINI,  Armig.  Pensylvan.  De  Honoribus  suis,  ob. 
Ratiocinia  &  Inventiones  ejus  eximias  et  insignes  in  ELECTRICISMO  ;  oratio,  quam  ad 
ILLUM,  in  Aula  Acad.  Yal.  Habuit.  EZRA  STILES,  Nonis  Februarii,  A.  D.  1755," 
is  given  in  full  in  William  Temple  Franklin's  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings 
of  his  Grandfather,  London,  1818,  quarto  Vol.  i,p.  443,  and  octavo  edition  ii. 
289.  Mr.  Dexter,  Assistant  Librarian  of  Yale  University,  favors  me  with  a  copy  from 
Dr.  Stiles'  original  MS.  of  the  oration ;  the  author  must  have  furnished  Dr.  Franklin, 
upon  request,  with  a  copy,  and  this  doubtless  was  found  among  the  latter's  papers 
from  which  it  was  inserted  in  the  Memoirs  of  1818.  This  latter  bears  some  verbal 
changes  from  the  original  which  make  no  difference,  however,  in  the  proper  render- 
ing. Mr.  Dexter  writes  me:  "In  February,  1755,  the  Tutors  were  the  only  resi- 
"  dent  instructors  besides  the  President;  and  with  President  Clap's  partiality  for  Stiles, 
"it  is  not  strange  that  the  duty  of  welcoming  Franklin  was  committed  to  him."  For 
a  further  reference  to  this  interesting  occasion  see  Mr.  Dexter's  Annals  of  the  College 
History  for  1754-55,  ii.  355  :  "  Another  distinguished  writer  in  the  following  Feb- 
"ruarywas  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  was  now  Deputy  Postmaster  General  for  the 
"  North  American  Continent,  and  had  already  received  the  honors  of  the  College  for 
''  his  brilliant  electrical  discoveries,  &c." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       209 


XXVII. 

We  have  seen  that  Mr.  Smith  was  chosen  Provost  and  Mr. 
Alison  Vice-Provost  in  March,  1755,  in  advance  of  the  passage  of 
the  new  charter,  in  order  to  secure  the  names  of  the  incumbents 
of  these  two  offices  being  inserted  in  the  draft  of  the  charter. 
This  new  charter,  as  stated  in  a  previous  page,  was  based  upon 
a  suggestion  to  the  Trustees  in  December,  1754,  submitted  by 
Mr.  Alison  and  Mr.  Smith,  looking  to  securing  the  needed  power 
of  conferring  degrees,  which  was  not  accorded  in  the  charter  of 
1753.  These  gentlemen,  under  instructions  to  draw  up  a  clause 
to  be  added  to  the  charter  for  that  purpose,  appeared  at  the  Jan- 
uary meeting  and  "  laid  before  the  Trustees  the  Draught  of  a 
Charter"  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Smith, 

for  the  Purposes  mentioned  in  the  Minute  of  10  December  last,  which 
being  long  and  containing  several  matters  of  Importance,  Mr  Francis  Mr 
Peters  Mr  White  and  William  Coleman  are  appointed  a  Committee  to 
examine  the  same,  and  are  desir'd  to  report  thereon  at  the  next  meeting, 
[on  II  February]  Mr  Peters  reported  that  the  Committee  appointed  to 
examine  the  Draught  of  a  Charter  laid  before  the  Trustees  at  their  last 
meeting,  after  maturely  considering  the  said  Draught,  had  made  a  new 
one,  varying  from  the  former  in  several  Particulars,  and  the  said  new 
Draught  being  produced  by  Mr  Francis,  was  read,  and  considered  Para- 
graph by  Paragraph,  and  after  a  small  Alteration  was  approved  of  and 
ordered  to  be  engrossed.  [On  7  March]  the  Trustees  being  now  informed 
that  the  Governor  agreeable  to  the  Prayer  of  their  Petition  to  him,  was 
ready  to  grant  them  a  Charter  on  the  Terms  of  the  above  mentioned 
Draught,  resolved  to  wait  on  him  immediately  in  order  to  receive  the  same 
at  his  Hands. 

These  were  Messrs.  Hamilton,  Franklin,  Inglis,  Stedman,  M'Call, 
Allen,  White,  Plumsted,  Turner,  Cadwalader,  Strettell,  Maddox, 
Peters,  Phin.  Bond,  Francis,  Tho.  Bond,  Leech,  Masters,  Syng 
and  Coleman.  But  a  clause  in  the  charter  excited  some  mis- 
apprehension as  to  its  scope,  which  perhaps  was  only  detected 
upon  the  due  application  of  its  terms  ;  and  at  the  meeting  of  13 
May,  the  only  Minute  recorded  bears  on  the  question  : 

The  new  Charter  lately  granted  to  the  Trustees  being  produced  and 
read,  some  Objection  was  made  to  a  clause  therein,  as  tending  to  confirm 


2io       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

any  future  Provost,  Vice  Provost  and  Professors  in  their  respective  offices 
during  Life,  which  not  being  intended  Mr  Peters  was  desired  to  wait  on 
the  Governor  in  Behalf  of  the  Trustees,  and  request  he  would  be  pleased 
to  alter  the  same. 

This  was  accorded  ;    and  on  10  June,  1/55, 

the  clause  in  the  new  Charter  objected  to  at  the  last  Meeting  having 
been  altered  by  the  Governor  to  the  Satisfaction  of  the  Trustees,  and  the 
Charter  afterwards  repass'd  the  Seal  all  the  Trustees  who  attended  this 
meeting  [namely  Messrs  Franklin,  Phin.  Bond,  Taylor,  Cadwalader,  Zach- 
ary,  Peters,  Stedman,  Shippen,  Masters,  Hamilton,  Strettell,  Turner, 
Syng,  Inglis,  Tho.  Bond,  and  Coleman,]  except  Lloyd  Zachary,  waited 
on  the  Governor  as  did  likewise  the  Provost  and  Vice  Provost  ;  and 
respectively  took  and  subscribed  the  Qualifications  thereby  required  in  his 
Presence.  And  the  Trustees  in  Consequence  thereof  do  now  assume  the 
Name  and  Title  of  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  COLLEGE,  ACADEMY  AND 
CHARITABLE  SCHOOL  OF  PHILADELPHIA  IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYL- 
VANIA, by  which  Name  they  are  incorporated. 

Dr.  Zachary  never  qualified  and  took  his  seat  in  the  Board  ;  but 
his  death  in  November  1756  removed  his  name  from  the  list  of 
Trustees.  At  the  meeting  of  30  June  Messrs.  Francis,  Maddox  and 
Mifflin,  qualified  and  took  their  seats  ;  and  on  1 1  July,  Messrs. 
Allen  and  White  appeared  in  like  manner.  As  there  are  no  min- 
utes between  that  date  and  9  December,  we  find  no  record  of  the 
times  Messrs.  Leech,  M'Call,  and  Plumsted  took  their  seats  under 
due  qualification. 

Early  information  to  the  public  was  given  of  the  passage  of 
the   first  draft  of  this  charter,  by  Franklin  in  the   Gazette  of  1 1 
March,  1755  : 

Last  Friday  an  additional  Charter  passed  the  Great  Seal  of  this 
Province  by  which  a  COLLEGE,  in  the  most  extensive  Sense  of  the  Word, 
is  erected  in  this  city,  and  added  to  that  Collection  of  Schools,  formerly 
called  the  Academy,  under  the  same  general  Government,  the  Trustees 
being  now  incorporated  by  the  Name  of  ' '  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  COL- 
LEGE, ACADEMY,  AND  CHARITABLE  SCHOOL  OF  PHILADELPHIA,  IN  THE 
PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA."  The  Chief  Masters  are  also  made  a 
FACULTY,  or  learned  Body,  by  the  Name  of  ' '  THE  PROVOST,  VICE  PRO- 
VOST, AND  PROFESSORS  OF  THE  COLLEGE  AND  ACADEMY  OF  PHILADEL- 
PHIA IN  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,"  and  a  Power  of  admitting 
Students  and  others  to  the  usual  UNIVERSITY  DEGREES  is  granted,  under 
such  wise  and  judicious  Restrictions,  that  the  Honors  of  the  Seminary 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       211 

can  hardly  ever  be  prostituted  to  mean  or  venal  Purposes,  but  must  be 
the  object  of  every  Student's  Ambition,  who  is  capable  of  distinguishing 
between  real  and  counterfeit  Honor.  That  Clause  in  the  Charter  relating 
to  DEGREES  shall  be  inserted  in  next  Week' s  Gazette,  that  such  as  are 
desirous  of  the  Honors  of  this  College,  may  see  on  what  terms  they  are  to 
expect  them,  and  how  far  they  may  be  considered  as  real  Honors. 


XXVIII. 

Four  of  the  original  trustees  were  now  dead.  To  the  names 
of  Logan  and  Hopkinson,  already  recorded,  were  added 
Lawrence  and  Willing  ;  a  fifth,  Dr.  Zachary  participated  no 
further  in  the  councils  of  the  Trustees.  Isaac  Norris  who 
had  succeeded  Logan  had  tendered  his  resignation  from 
want  of  time  amid  pressure  of  public  duties.  Governor  Hamil- 
ton had  been  chosen  17  September,  1754,  to  succeed  Mr. 
Lawrence;  Mr.  Alexander  Stedman,  on  n  February,  1755  to 
succeed  Mr.  Willing  ;  and  Mr  John  Mifflin  on  7  March,  1755  to 
fill  the  vacancy  left  by  Mr.  Norris.  Both  Hamilton  and  Sted- 
man attended  the  meeting  which  elected  the  new  Provost  and 
Vice-Provost,  and  Mifflin's  election  was  had  at  the  same  meet- 
ing. Before  we  proceed  in  our  narrative  of  the  College  under 
the  creation  given  to  it  by  the  charter  of  1755,  let  us  learn 
somewhat  of  these  new  Trustees,  who  all  shared  actively  in  its 
work. 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  son  of  Andrew  Hamilton,  a  Councillor, 
and  a  native  of  Accomac  County,  Virginia,  was  born  about 
1710.  His  sister,  Margaret,  was  wife  of  Chief  Justice  Allen, 
one  of  the  original  Trustees  of  the  Academy.  His  father  own- 
ing lands  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  he  was  returned 
from  there  to  the  Provincial  Assembly  when  but  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  and  was  re-elected  five  times  therefrom.  Removing 
afterwards  to  Philadelphia,  he  was  made  a  member  of  Council 


212       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

in  1739,  in  1741  an  Alderman,  was  chosen  Mayor  in 
October,  1745,  and  while  Mayor  was  called  to  a  seat  in  the 
Provincial  Council  and  qualified  17  January,  1746.  Visiting 
England,  he  returned  from  there  in  November,  1748,  bearing  a 
commission  from  the  Perms  as  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Prov- 
ince. Franklin  writing  to  James  Logan  6  April,  1748,  says, 
"  You  must  have  heard  that  Mr.  James  Hamilton  is  appointed 
our  Governor  ;  an  event  that  gives  us  the  more  pleasure,  as  we 
esteem  him  a  benevolent  and  upright,  as  well  as  a  sensible 
man."  T  His  instructions  from  home  hampered  him  in  his  deal- 
ings with  the  Assembly,  whose  bills  for  the  issue  of  paper 
money  could  not  meet  his  approval  as  they  were  without  the 
required  proviso  that  the  operations  of  all  such  should  be  sus- 
pended until  the  Royal  assent  to  them  could  be  had.  The 
assembly  stood  firm  on  their  privileges,  and  the  Governor  was 
embarrassed,  for  the  French  were  threatening  and  the  Quaker 
assembly,  averse  to  appropriations  for  war  purposes,  though  not 
so  to  points  of  money  "for  the  King's  use,"  which  would  indeed 
cover  many  an  object  whether  for  war  or  for  peace,  could  only 
recognize  the  issue  of  bills  as  the  surest  way  of  raising  money 
even  for  the  requirements  of  the  province.  Hamilton  asked  to 
be  superseded,  and  a  month  after  his  election  as  a  Trustee  of 
the  Academy  he  was  relieved  of  the  Governorship  by  the  arrival 
in  October,  1754,  of  Robert  Hunter  Morris,  whose  success  with 
the  Assembly  was  no  better.  "  Weary  of  a  service,  which  he 
found  incompatible,  if  not  with  his  notions  of  honor,  at  least 
with  his  repose,  he  had  desired  to  be  dismissed."2  Hamilton 
remained  in  the  Council,  and  was  active  in  all  efforts  of  the 
authorities  to  thwart  the  ravages  of  the  Indians  on  the  borders, 
traveling  even  in  midwinter  to  secure  proper  organization  of  the 
inhabitants  and  friendly  Indians,  for  in  the  year  after  his  retiring 
from  the  Governorship  Braddock's  defeat  had  thrown  the 
whole  Province  into  consternation.  He  was  again  commissioned 
Lieutenant-Governor  on  19  July,  1759,  when  on  a  visit  to 

1  Bigelow,  ii.  115. 

'2 'Historical  Review,  in  Sparks,  iii.  280.  In  Franklin's  letter  to  David  Hume, 
27  September,  1760,  he  disclaims  the  authorship  of  this  Review.  Bigelow,  iii.  125. 
But  this  disclaimer  seems  yet  an  open  question  with  historians. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       213 

England,  but  on  the  understanding  he  be  not  restrained  from 
assenting  to  any  reasonable  bill  for  taxing  the  Proprietary 
estates  in  common  with  all  other  estates  in  the  Provinces.  This 
was  the  political  sore  of  the  Province,  which  grew  into  greater 
proportions  in  after  years.  In  a  letter  to  Thomas  Penn,  21 
August,  1759,  he  says  : 

Everybody  knows  I  did  not  solicit  my  appointment  to  it;  nor  have  I 
varied  the  terms,  on  which  I  professed  to  engage  in  it,  one  iota  from  the 
beginning.  Those  terms  were  that  I  would  not  be  restrained  from  giving 
my  assent  to  any  reasonable  bill  for  taxing  the  proprietary  estates  in 
common  with  all  the  other  estates  in  the  province,  because  in  my  opinion 
it  was  not  more  than  just  that  it  should  be  so.  If  you  have  changed 
your  sentiments,  with  regard  to  this  matter,  which,  for  a  long  time  I 
looked  upon  to  be  the  same  as  mine,  it  will  give  me  no  pain  on  my  own 
account.  *  *  *  *  I  think  it  incumbent  on  me  to  declare,  as  I 
have  frequently  done,  that  I  cannot  think  of  engaging  myself  in  that 
service,  but  upon  the  terms  and  conditions  above  mentioned. 3 

In  1760  a  bill  was  introduced  for  raising  ^100,000  assess- 
ments to  be  on  all  alike  ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  assessors  only 
represented  the  people  and  in  their  appointment  the  Penns  had 
no  voice,  hamilton  endeavored  for  some  change  in  the  bill, 
but  without  avail,  and  finally  approved  it  under  the  necessity  at 
that  time  existing  for  money,  all  his  contention  having  been  that 
the  Proprietaries  be  put  on  an  equal  footing  with  all  others.  He 
was  again  relieved  from  the  office  by  the  arrival  of  John  Penn 
in  October,  1763,  as  Lieutenant  Governor.  On  Mr.  Penn's 
departure  in  May,  1771,  as  President  of  the  Council,  Ham- 
ilton was  for  the  third  time  acting  Governor  of  the  province, 
and  in  this  term  encountered  the  controversies  of  the 
Connecticut  claimants  in  the  Wyoming  Valley.  And  again  a 
fourth  term  for  a  few  months  after  Richard  Penn  left  the  pro- 
vince in  July,  1773.  He  stood  apart  from  the  movements  of 
the  Revolution,  his  political  associations  drawing  his  sympathy 
to  the  English  side.  In  1777  he  was  a  prisoner  on  parole 


1  Sparks,  vii.  172. 


214        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

within  the  bounds  of  the  province.  He  was  at  Northampton 
during  the  occupation  of  Philadelphia  by  the  British,  but  returned 
here  on  a  pass,  not  long  after  the  enemy  evacuated  the  city, 
and  he  returned  to  Bush  Hill,  which  he  had  inherited  from 
his  father,  the  Woodlands  west  of  the  Schuylkill  having  been 
left  to  his  brother  Andrew.  James  Hamilton  died  in  New  York 
14  August,  1783.  He  was  never  married  and  his  brother's  son 
William  succeeded  to  his  estates  including  Bush  Hill. 

He  partook  with  his  associates  the  like  lively  interest 
with  them  in  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  and  the  affairs  of  the 
College,  but  his  public  concerns  in  the  Council  and  otherwise 
forbad  him  a  regular  attendance  at  the  meetings.  His  wealth 
joined  to  a  personal  influence  gave  him  a  position  of  great 
weight  in  the  community,  and  a  taste  for  scientific  pursuits  and 
a  desire  for  the  furtherance  of  public  enterprises  showed  him  to 
be  a  man  of  parts.  He  was  for  some  years  President  of  the 
Philosophical  Society  when  it  united  with  the  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Useful  Knowledge,  and  at  the  first  election  for  the 
President  of  the  new  Society,  2  January,  1769,  he  and  Franklin 
were  placed  in  nomination,  but  the  latter  although  then  abroad, 
with  his  reputation  in  science  and  as  the  founder  of  the  original 
Philosophical  Society  in  1743,  was  elected.  The  firmness  and 
strength  of  his  character  are  portrayed  sufficiently  in  his  letter 
to  Thomas  Penn  already  referred  to.  And  there  must  have  been 
between  him  and  Franklin  certain  lines  of  sympathy  in  the  pro- 
prietary contest,  which  was  active  at  the  time  he  was  elected  a 
Trustee,  which  served  to  bring  the  two  often  together  in  con- 
ference on  the  public  situation.  Hamilton's  first  administration 
as  Governor  is  very  completely  portrayed  in  the  Historical Reiew 
of  Pennsylvania  above  referred  to. 

ALEXANDER  STEDMAN  was  born  in  1703  the  son  of  Robert 
Stedman  of  Kinross.  He  took  part  in  the  Stuart  rising  of  1745, 
was  taken  prisoner  after  Culloden,  but  escaped  to  America  and 
settled  in  Philadelphia,  and  made  his  peace  with  the  mother 
country.  He  was  a  sound  lawyer  and  profound  mathematician. 
He  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        215 

21  March,  1764.*  He  was  a  Vestryman  of  Christ  Church  from 
1758  to  1766,  and  was  Church  Warden  from  1759  to  1762.  On 
the  declaration  of  the  colonies'  independence  he  withdrew  to 
England,  and  retired  to  Swansea  where  he  died  aged  91.  He 
married  Elizabeth  daughter  of  William  Chancellor  of  Peresford, 
Somerset.  He  and  his  brother  Charles  became  largely  inter- 
ested in  Lancaster  County  lands,  a  large  portion  of  which  they 
sold  in  1758  to  Baron  Stiegel,  upon  which  the  latter  laid  out  the 
town  of  Manheim,  and  eventually  he  bought  the  entire  Stedman 
interest  in  the  tract.5  Alexander  Stedman  was  one  of  the  Com- 
mission in  1 756  appointed  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Morris  to  audit, 
adjust  and  settle  the  accounts  of  certain  owners  of  horses  and 
wagons,  contracted  for  by  Benjamin  Franklin  under  General 
Braddock's  service.6 

Alexander's  younger  brother  Charles,  born  1713,  shared  in 
the  ill  fortunes  of  the  Stuarts,  and  came  to  Pennsylvania  where 
his  interests  increased.  He  was  a  member  of  Christ  Church 
Vestry  in  1752-74  and  again  1776-78  ;  and  was  Church  Warden 
in  1764  and  65,  and  was  present  at  Mr  Duche's  house  on  4  July, 
1776  when  the  Vestry  unanimously  passed  the  resolution 
requesting  in  the  name  of  the  vestry  and  their  constituents  to 
omit  the  petitions  in  the  liturgy  for  the  royal  family.  Charles 
married  in  1769  Ann,  daughter  of  Or  Thomas  Graeme. 

Sabine  says  of  Alexander  and  his  son  Charles,  Jr  :  "  of  Phila- 
delphia :  the  latter  a  lawyer.  Both  attainted  of  treason,  and 
estates  confiscated."  7 


*  He  had  been  commissioned  Associate  Justice  of  the  City  Court  5  October, 
1756,  and  President  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  City  and  County  of 
Philadelphia  in  place  of  William  Coleman,  8  April,  1758,  and  Presiding  Justice  of  the 
Orphans'  Court  9  December  following. 

5  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  i.  69  and  viii.  68. 

6  Ibid.,  v.  336.      Dr.  William    Drewet    Smith    was   married   to  Miss   Peggy 
Stedman    daughter   of   Alexander    Stedman,    Esq.,   of  this   city.       Peunsylvania 
Gazette  23  Aug.  1775. 

1  Loyalists,  ii.  581.  Charles,  Jr.,  became  head  of  the  Commissariat  of  the 
British  army  in  the  States,  war  prisoner  in  1776  and  again  1780,  and  was  companion 
to  Major  Andre  while  in  prison.  He  was  author  of  the  History  of  the  Origin,  Progress, 
and  Termination  of  the  American  War.  2  vols.  quarto,  London,  1794.  *'  The  author 
thinks  that  Howe  could  have  closed  the  war  victoriously  in  the  campaign  of  1776." 
Allibone. 


216       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

JOHN  MIFFLIN  was  born  in  Philadelphia  18  January,  1715, 
the  son  of  George  Mifflin  and  grandson  of  John  Mifflin  of  Wilt- 
shire, England,  who  was  one  of  the  first  arrivals  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  became  a  merchant  of  great  prominence,  and  was 
elected  a  Councilman  of  Philadelphia  in  1747,  and  an  Alder- 
man in  1751,  to  the  latter  office  being  chosen  concurrently  with 
Franklin.  He  had  been  but  a  few  months  Trustee  of  the 
Academy  when  he  was  on  2  November,  1755,  called  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Council.  He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed 
by  Act  of  Assembly  to  disburse  the  .£60,000  granted  after  a 
long  struggle  by  the  Assembly  "for  the  King's  use,"  a  eupho- 
nious phrase  denoting  the  defence  of  the  Province,  which  the 
Assembly  under  its  Friendly  Control  would  not  directly  vote  for 
military  defence.  He  died  in  February,  1759,  and  was  buried 
in  Friends'  Burying  Ground.  He  was  twice  married,  his  second 
wife  being  Sarah  daughter  of  William  Fishbourne,  whose  widow 
married  John  Galloway.  Mrs.  Mifflin  eventually  married  Mr. 
John  Beale  Bordley  of  Maryland.  John  Mifflin's  eldest  son 
Thomas,  a  graduate  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  1760, 
became  a  Trustee  in  1773  ;  his  eminent  services  in  the  Revolu- 
tion and  as  the  first  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  will  demand  a 
notice  when  we  reach  his  election.  His  son  by  the  second  wife, 
John  Fishbourne,  was  a  graduate  of  the  College  and  Academy  in 
1775,  and  became  a  Trustee  of  the  University  in  1802. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       217 

XXIX. 

At  the  meeting  of  10  June,  1755  "The  President,  Mr. 
Hamilton,  Mr.  Taylor,  Doctor  Phineas  Bond,  Mr.  Peters,  and 
Mr.  Stedman,  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  Examine  a 
Draught  of  Sundry  Rules  and  Statutes  now  proposed  to  the 
Trustees  to  be  enacted,"  doubtless  prepared  by  the  President  and 
submitted  by  him  for  adoption.  And  at  the  meeting  of  1 1  July, 

the  President  reported,  That  the  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting 
to  examine  a  Draught  of  sundry  Rules  and  Statutes  then  laid  before  the 
Trustees,  had  after  due  consideration,  made  some  Alterations  therein  ;  and 
the  same  being  now  produced  and  read  were  approved  and  enacted,  being 
in  the  following  Words  : 

RULES    AND    STATUTES    OF    THE  COLLEGE,  ACADEMY  AND 
CHARITY-SCHOOL  OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

SECT.  I. 
OF  THE  GENERAL  POWERS  OF  THE  FACULTY  IN  EXECUTING  LAWS. 

As  a  Faculty,  the  Provost,  Vice-Provost  and  Professors,  shall  have 
an  immediate  &  general  Regard  to  the  Manners  and  Education  of  all  the 
Youth,  belonging  to  this  College,  Academy  and  Charity-School. 

They  shall  be  invested  with  the  Execution  of  all  Laws,  that  shall 
from  Time  to  Time,  be  made  by  the  Trustees,  for  the  wholsome  Govern- 
ment of  the  several  Members  of  the  same  ;  excepting  in  those  particular 
Cases,  wherein,  by  Laws  and  Statutes  hereafter  to  be  enacted,  it  may  be 
thought  proper  to  restrict  them. 

That  they  may  more  effectually  discharge  this  Trust,  they  shall  meet 
at  least  once  a  Fortnight  in  the  College  &  Academy  and  oftener  if  the 
Provost  think  fit,  or  any  two  Members  of  the  Faculty  desire  him  to  call  a 
Meeting. 

When  met,  they  shall  diligently  examine  what  Proficiency  the 
Students  make  from  Time  to  Time,  under  their  respective  Professors  or 
Tutors ;  and  whether  there  be  any  Breach,  or  Neglect  of  the  Laws  of  the 
Corporation  among  the  Students,  and  shall  determine  all  Matters  by  a 
Majority  of  Votes. 

In  Consequence  of  these  Determinations,  the  Person  who  presides 
at  such  Meetings,  as  hereinafter  directed,  shall,  in  the  Name  of  the  Fac- 
ulty, encourage  and  reward  the  deserving,  &  admonish,  censure,  or  inflict 
such  Mulcts  &  lesser  Punishments  on  Delinquents,  as  the  Majority  of  the 
Faculty  so  met,  shall  deem  reasonable  and  conformable  to  the  Laws  then 
in  Force. 


218        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

But  that  Things  of  a  more  weighty  Nature  may  be  done  with  greater 
Deliberation  and  Solemnity,  the  Inflicting  upon  any  Student  or  Students, 
the  greater  Punishments  of  Expulsion,  Suspension  and  Degradation,  shall 
be  by  Direction  of  the  Trustees  only  when  duly  met 

And,  if  at  such  Meetings  of  the  Faculty  it  shall  appear,  that  there 
has  been  a  Neglect  of  Duty  in  any  Professor,  the  Faculty  shall  admonish 
him  in  the  most  friendly  Manner  ;  but  if  repeated  Admonitions  have  not 
the  proper  Effect,  they  shall  lay  the  Matter  before  the  Trustees. 

SECT.   2. 
OF  THE  LEGISLATIVE  POWERS  OF  THE  FACULTY. 

And  that  a  Body  of  good  Laws  may  speedily  be  compiled  &  perfected 
by  Persons,  who  from  their  daily  Employments  in  this  Seminary,  have 
frequent  Opportunities  of  discovering  the  Necessity,  or  Utility,  of  particular 
Regulations  ;  and  because  various  Cases  and  Circumstances  may  arise, 
which  no  human  Prudence  can  foresee,  and  against  which  the  Laws  then 
in  Being  have  not  sufficiently  provided  ;  the  Faculty,  when  met,  shall  from 
Time  to  Time,  have  Power  to  make  such  Ordinances  and  Regulations,  as 
they,  or  the  major  Part  of  them,  shall  judge  necessary,  either  for  the 
Education  of  the  Youth,  or  the  better  Government  of  the  several  Members 
of  this  College  Academy  &  Charity-School.  The  Regulations  and  Ordi- 
nances so  made  by  the  Faculty,  shall  have  the  same  Force  as  Laws  and 
Statutes  of  the  Trustees  till  their  first  ensuing  Meeting  ;  before  whom  at 
their  said  first  ensuing  Meeting,  all  such  Regulations  and  Ordinances  shall  be 
laid  by  the  Provost  or  any  other  Person  they  may  appoint  for  that  Purpose. 

If  at  the  first  Meeting  of  the  Trustees  the  said  Regulations  and 
Ordinances  shall  not  be  annulled,  they  shall  still  continue  in  Force,  as 
Ordinances  of  the  Faculty,  subject  to  such  Amendments  &  Alterations  as 
the  Trustees  from  Time  to  Time  shall  think  proper  ;  till  at  last  by  them 
either  annulled  or  ratified,  and  enrolled  among  the  publick  Statutes. 

Nevertheless  no  Regulation  or  Ordinance  made  by  the  Faculty  shall 
be  valid  if  they  neglect  to  lay  the  same  before  the  Trustees  at  their  first 
ensuing  Meeting  as  above  directed,  nor  shall  any  Ordinance  be  made 
repugnant  to  the  standing  Laws  of  the  Corporation. 

But  if  the  Faculty  find  any  Amendment  or  Alteration  of  a  standing 
Law  of  the  Corporation  necessary,  they  shall  propose  the  same  to  the 
Trustees  for  their  Consideration. 

SECT.   3. 
OF  THE  PARTICULAR  POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  PROVOST. 

The  Provost  shall  have  a  general  Inspection  of  the  Morals  and 
Behaviour  of  all  the  Youth,  to  admonish  and  regulate  them  in  all  Affairs 
of  smaller  Concern. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        219 

He  shall  also  have  Power  to  call  a  Meeting  of  the  Faculty  whenever 
he  shall  judge  it  necessary. 

In  all  Meetings  of  the  Faculty,  stated  or  occasional,  he  shall  preside  ; 
and  likewise  in  all  publick  Acts  and  Disputations,  and  in  publick  Exami- 
nations and  Commencements. 

SECT.  4. 
OF  THE  VICE-PROVOST. 

During  the  necessary  Absence  of  the  Provost,  the  Vice-Provost  shall 
be  invested  with  all  the  Powers,  and  do  the  Duties  of  a  Provost 

Upon  the  Death,  Cession  or  Removal,  of  the  Provost,  the  Vice- 
Provost  shall  exercise  all  the  said  Powers  as  he  was  used  to  do  in  the 
ordinary  Absence  of  the  Provost,  till  a  Successor  be  chosen  and  admitted. 

SECT.  5. 
OF  THE  SENIOR  PROFESSOR. 

In  the  necessary  Absence  of  both  the  Provost  and  Vice-Provost 
all  the  aforesaid  Powers  shall  be  devolved  upon  the  Senior  Professor  that 
shall  be  present,  according  to  that  Order  of  Precedence  which  shall  from 
Time  to  Time  be  settled  by  the  Trustees  among  the  Professors,  next  after 
the  Provost  and  Vice-Provost. 

In  the  College  and  At  a  Meeting  of  the  Corporation,  the 

Academy  Hall  July  nth  five  foregoing  Sections  of  Laws  &  Statutes 

1755.  were  enacted,  and  ordered  to  be  enrolled 

in  the  Book  of  Statutes,  and  a  Copy  of 
them  to  be  delivered  to  the  Faculty. 

B.    FRANKLIN    President     of   the 
Trustees. 

And  the  following  three  Laws  or  Statutes,  drawn  up  by  the  President, 
after  being  read  and  consider' d  by  the  Trustees,  were  also  enacted,  to  wit  : 

LAWS  OR  STATUTES  OF  THE  TRUSTEES. 

CHAP.  I. 

Concerning  Elections. 

It  is  enacted  by  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  Academy  and  Charitable 
School  of  Philadelphia  in  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  That  all  Elections 
to  be  made  hereafter  by  the  Trustees  aforesaid,  for  the  Time  being, 
Whether  of  a  President,  Treasurer,  Clerk,  or  other  Officer  of  the  Trustees, 
or  of  Provost,  Vice-Provost,  Professor  of  any  Kind,  or  other  Master, 
Usher,  or  Officer  of  the  College,  Academy  or  Charitable  School,  shall  be 
made  by  written  Tickets  containing  the  Name  or  Names  of  the  Person  or 


22O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Persons  voted  for,  put  into  the  President's  Hat  by  the  Persons  voting  ;  and 
the  Choice  appearing  to  be  made  by  a  Majority  of  such  Tickets,  shall  be 
immediately  entered  by  the  Clerk  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  Proceed- 
ings. 

CHAP.  II. 
Concerning  the  Meetings  of  the  Trustees,  &  Officers  to  be  chosen. 

It  is  enacted,  That  the  Trustees  shall  meet  on  the  second  Tuesday 
of  every  Month  throughout  the  Year,  at  the  Academy,  to  visit  the  Schools, 
examine  the  Scholars,  hear  their  publick  Exercises,  and  transact  such  other 
Business  as  may  come  before  them,  and  also  at  such  other  Times  and 
Places  as  they  shall  adjourn  to  at  such  Meetings,  or  as  they  shall  be  called 
to  meet  at  by  the  President  on  Special  unforeseen  Occasions. 

And  at  their  first  Meeting  in  the  Month  of  May  yearly  they  shall 
chuse  a  President,  for  the  ensuing  Year,  whose  particular  Duty  it  shall  be, 
when  present,  to  regulate  their  Debates,  and  State  the  Questions  arising 
from  them  ;  to  sign  the  Orders  of  the  Trustees,  and  to  direct  Notices  to  be 
given  of  the  Times  and  Places  of  their  special  Conventions. 

They  shall  also  at  the  same  Time,  chuse  one  of  their  own  Members 
to  be  Treasurer,  who  shall  receive  all  Donations  and  Money  due  to  them, 
and  disburse  and  lay  out  the  Same  according  to  their  Orders  ;  And  at  the 
End  of  each  Year  pay  the  Sum  remaining  in  his  Hands  to  his  Successor. 

They  shall  also  at  the  same  Time  chuse  a  Clerk  for  the  ensuing 
Year  ;  whose  Duty  it  shall  be  to  keep  an  exact  Account  of  the  Times  of 
all  Admissions  and  Departures  of  Students,  the  Quarterly  Sums  due  from 
each,  and  the  Payments  made  ;  and  also  to  collect  the  Sums  due  from 
Time  to  Time,  whether  Entrance  Money  or  Quarteridge,  and  pay  the  same 
Quarterly  into  the  Hands  of  the  Treasurer.  The  Clerk  shall  also  make 
out  and  deliver  written  Notices  to  the  Trustees,  one  Day  at  least  before 
each  Meeting,  of  the  Time  £  Place  of  such  Meeting  ;  attend  the  Trustees 
at  their  Meetings,  and  take  the  Names  of  the  Persons  present,  with  true 
Minutes  of  their  Proceedings. 

CHAP.  III. 
Of  the  Number  of  Trustees  necessary  to  do  Business. 

It  is  enacted  That,  due  Notice  having  been  left  by  the  Clerk,  in 
Writing,  at  the  House  of  each  Trustee,  signifying  the  Time  and  Place  of 
any  Meeting  of  the  Trustees,  the  Members  that  shall  meet  in  pursuance  of 
such  Notice,  may  one  Hour  after  the  time  appointed,  proceed  to  consider 
any  Business  that  shall  come  before  them  relating  to  their  Trust ;  and  the 
Determination  of  a  Majority  of  those  so  met,  shall  be  as  valid  and  con- 
clusive as  if  the  whole  Number  of  Trustees  were  present. 

Provided  nevertheless,  That  when  any  Money  is  to  be  laid  out  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        221 

disposed  of,  exceeding  the  Sum  of  Twenty  Pounds,  or  any  Salary  to  be 
augmented  at  any  Meeting  of  the  Trustees,  the  same  shall  be  first  pro- 
posed at  a  preceding  Meeting  and  particularly  express' d  in  the  written 
Notice  to  be  given. 

In  addition  to  the  approval  and  enactment  of  the  above 
The  President,  Mr.  Peters  and  Mr.  Inglis  are  appointed  a  Committee  to 
consider  the  Rates  to  be  paid  by  the  Scholars  in  the  General  schools  and 
to  prepare  a  Scheme  thereof,  to  be  laid  before  the  Trustees  at  their  next 
Meeting.  They  are  likewise  desired  to  consider  what  Vacations  and 
Hollidays  ought  to  be  allowed. 

We  are  without  the  results  or  report  of  this  Committee's  work, 
as  there  is  an  absence  of  all  Minutes  for  five  months  those  of  9 
December  being  the  next  recorded,  but  mention  must  not  be 
omitted  of  their  voting  at  this  meeting  "  a  Sum  not  exceeding 
one  Hundred  and  Fifty  pounds  Sterling,  be  laid  out  in  an  Ap- 
paratus for  exhibiting  Philosophical  Experiments."  It  was  at 
this  July  meeting  "  Mr.  Paul  Jackson  was  chosen  clerk  to  the 
Trustees  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  to  be  allowed  Six  pounds  per 
annum  for  that  service."  Mr.  Jackson  had  been  a  tutor  for 
three  years,  and  in  less  than  a  twelvemonth  from  this  time  we 
shall  find  him  one  of  the  Faculty.  The  faithful  Trustee,  Wil- 
liam Coleman,  was  thus  relieved  from  the  clerkship ;  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Trustees  he  was  elected  Treasurer,  but  on  17 
December,  1750,  "Mr.  William  Coleman  being  requested  to  act 
as  Clerk  for  the  ensuing  year,  agrees  to  perform  that  service," 
but  his  year  lengthened  out  to  almost  five  years.  The  new 
clerk  makes  no  note  of  explanation  of  this  hiatus  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Trustees.  It  was  however  a  season  of  alarm  in 
the  Province,  for  Braddock's  expedition  which  had  raised  the 
highest  hopes  of  a  final  destruction  to  the  efforts  of  the  French 
and  their  Indian  allies  on  our  borders  had  by  his  defeat  in  July 
brought  the  colonists  to  the  lowest  straits  of  anxiety  and  alarm. 
General  Braddock  had  landed  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  with  his 
confident  troops  and  in  his  own  greater  confidence,  and  marched 
thence  to  Fredericktown,  where  he  was  obliged  to  halt  for 
transportation.  The  unfortunate  dissensions  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Assembly,  the  non-resistants  opposed  to  grants  for  military 
defence,  and  the  executive  hampered,  Braddock  had  formed  the 


222        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

impression  that  Pennsylvania  was  averse  to  aiding  the  King  in 
this  expedition.  The  Assembly  deputed  Franklin  to  visit  the 
British  General  and  under  guise  of  arranging  a  postal  service 
during  his  campaign  to  disabuse  his  mind  of  any  wrong  im- 
pressions held  of  the  Pennsylvanians.  The  Minutes  of  8  April 
simply  state,  "  The  Trustees  should  have  met  this  Day,  but 
most  of  them  being  engaged  in  Publick  Business,  no  meeting  was 
held  ;"  Franklin  was  at  the  time  with  Braddock,  and  in  his 
Autobiography  says,1 

We  found  the  General  at  Frederictown,  waiting  impatiently  for  the 
return  of  those  he  had  sent  through  the  back  parts  of  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia to  collect  waggons.  I  stayed  with  him  several  days,  dined  with  him 
daily,  and  had  full  opportunity  of  removing  all  his  prejudices,  by  the  infor- 
mation of  what  the  Assembly  had  before  his  arrival  actually  done,  and 
were  still  willing  to  do,  to  facilitate  his  operations.  When  I  was  about  to 
depart,  the  returns  of  waggons  to  be  obtained  were  brought  in,  by  which  it 
appeared,  that  they  amounted  only  to  twenty-five,  and  not  all  of  those  were 
in  serviceable  condition.  The  General  and  all  the  officers  were  surprised, 
declared  the  expedition  was  then  at  an  end,  being  impossible ;  and 
exclaimed  against  the  ministers  for  ignorantly  landing  them  into  a  country 
destitute  of  the  means  of  conveying  their  stores,  baggage,  &c  not  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  waggons  being  necessary.  I  happened  to  say,  I 
thought  it  was  a  pity  they  had  not  been  landed  rather  in  Pennsylvania,  as 
in  that  country  almost  every  farmer  had  his  waggon.  The  General  eagerly 
laid  hold  of  my  words,  and  said,  Then  you,  sir,  who  are  a  man  of  interest 
there,  can  probably  procure  them  for  us  ;  and  I  beg  you  will  undertake  it. 

On  his  way  North  Franklin  issued  an  Advertisement  from 
Lancaster  on  26  April,  where  he  would  attend  "  from  this  day 
to  next  Wednesday  evening,  and  at  York  from  next  Thursday 
morning  till  Friday  evening,"  calling  for  the  needed  wagons 
and  horses,  and  offering  to  contract  for  the  same ;  and  at  the 
same  time  issued  an  Appeal  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Counties 
of  Lancaster,  and  York,  concluding, 

the  King's  business  must  be  done  ;  so  many  brave  troops,  come  so  far  for 
your  defence,  must  not  stand  idle  through  your  backwardness  to  do  what 
may  be  reasonably  expected  from  you  ;  wagons  and  horses  must  be  had  ; 
violent  measures  will  probably  be  used,  and  you  will  be  left  to  seek  for  a 
recompense  where  you  can  find  it,  and  your  case  perhaps  be  little  pitied 
or  regarded. 

1  Bigelow,  i.  250. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        223 

Of  Franklin's  success  in  this  appeal,  history  makes  full 
record  ;  but  as  the  colonists 

alleged  they  did  not  know  General  Braddock,  or  what  dependence  might 
be  had  on  his  promise,  insisted  on  my  bond  for  the  performance,  which  I 
accordingly  gave  them . 

Franklin  was  in  Philadelphia  by  the  meeting  of  1 3  May  ; 
and  on  24  June  attended  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons,  of 
which  he  was  Deputy  Grand  Master,  held  in  their  new  Lodge, 
from  which  the  body  proceeded  to  Christ  Church,  where  the 
Rev.  William  Smith,  who  had  been  a  Mason  before  he  came  to 
America,  preached  a  Sermon,2  entitled  An  earnest  Exhortation 
to  Religion,  Brotherly  Love  and  public  Spirit,  in  the  present 
Dangerous  State  of  Affairs ;  which  forms  the  second  of  his 
published  Discourses,  the  text  of  which  is,  Love  the  Brother- 
hood ;  fear  God  ;  honor  the  King.  In  this  the  young  Provost 
earnestly  pleaded  for  a  proper  resistance  to  the  enemy  and 
defence  of  one's  home,  and  struck  the  key  note  of  those  who 
blamed  the  Quakers  in  the  Assembly  who  scrupled  to  defend 
the  Province  by  armed  resources  ; 

The  doctrine  of  Non  resistance,  *  *  *  is  now  sufficiently 
exploded  ;  and  may  it  be  for  ever  treated  with  that  sovereign  Contempt, 
which  it  deserves  among  a  wise  and  virtuous  people.  God  gave  us  Free- 
dom as  our  Birthright,  and  in  his  own  government  of  the  world  he  never 
violates  that  Freedom,  nor  can  those  be  his  Vicegerents  who  do.  To  say 
they  are,  is  blaspheming  his  holy  name,  and  giving  the  lie  to  his  righteous 
authority.  The  Love  of  Mankind  and  the  Fear  of  God,  those  very  prin- 
ciples from  which  we  trace  the  divine  original  of  just  government,  would 
lead  us,  by  all  probable  means,  to  resist  every  tryant  to  destruction,  who 
should  attempt  to  enslave  the  free-born  Soul,  and  oppose  the  righteous  will 
of  God,  by  defeating  the  happiness  of  Man  *  *  *  Suffer  me  now  to 
apply  what  has  been  said,  by  earnestly  charging  every  one  of  this  audience 
to  a  conscientious  observance  of  these  duties  ;  for  if  there  ever  was  a 
people,  in  a  more  peculiar  manner,  called  to  observe  them,  we  who  inhabit 
these  colonies  are  that  people.  Being  yet  in  our  infancy,  and  surrounded 


*  "  Forty  years  will  this  day  have  finished  the  long  period,  since  I  first 
addressed  from  this  pulpit,  a  grand  Communication  of  Brethren,  with  our  great  fel- 
low-laborer, the  venerable  Franklin,  at  their  head."  Dr.  Smith's  Sermon  in  St. 
Peter's  Church,  24  June,  1795.  Works,  ii.  74.  But  Dr.  Smith  overlooked,  at  this 
long  interval,  the  fact  that  the  early  sermon  was  in  Christ  Church.  Works,  ii.  27. 
St.  Peter's  Church  was  not  then  existing. 


224        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

with  restless  enemies,  our  Strength,  our  Success,  and  our  future  glory, 
depend  upon  our  trust  in  God,  our  love  and  unanimity  among  ourselves, 
and  obedience  to  that  one  thing,  which  is  necessary  to  collect  our  scattered 
rays,  and  pour  them,  with  impressive  force,  upon  the  heads  of  our 
proud  foes.  *  *  *  Shall  we,  whose  souls  have  been  taught  to  exult  at 
the  sacred  sound  of  liberty,  not  be  roused,  animated,  and  enflamed,  by 
our  present  danger,  to  secure  a  treasure  which  includes  in  it  almost  every 
human  felicity  ?  Things  of  inferior  concern  may  be  adjusted  at  another 
season ;  and  those  who  pretend  to  the  greatest  public  spirit,  should  be  the 
first  to  give  a  proof  of  it,  by  turning  their  attention  to  the  main  chance,  at 
a  juncture  when  our  strength  and  success  so  evidently  depend  on  unanim- 
ity and  immediate  action.  Is  this  is  a  time  for  dissensions  about  matters 
of  trivial  moment,  when  the  very  vitals  of  Liberty  are  attacked,  which, 
once  gone,  may  never  be  recovered  ?  Is  this  a  time  to  decline  toils  or 
dangers,  or  expence,  when  all  lies  at  stake,  for  which  a  wise  man  would 
choose  to  live,  or  dare  to  die  ! 

So  impressive  was  this  Discourse  and  so  timely  its  senti- 
ments that  the  young  preacher  not  yet  thirty  years  of  age, 
whose  pulpit  power  was  now  further  established  in  the  com- 
munity, was  requested  to  give  a  copy  of  it  for  the  press. 


XXX. 

Braddock  was  then  within  a  fortnight  of  his  defeat  and 
death.  But  of  the  confidence  felt  in  the  community  generally 
in  his  success  Franklin  mentions  an  incident  showing  their  faith 
in  it  of  the  two  doctors  Bond,  his  fellow  trustees. 

Before  we  had  the  news  of  this  defeat,  the  two  doctors  Bond  came  to 
me  with  a  subscription  paper  for  raising  money  to  defray  the  expense  of  a 
grand  firework,  which  it  was  intended  to  exhibit  at  a  rejoicing  on  receiving 
the  news  of  our  taking  Fort  Duquesne.  I  looked  grave,  and  said,  it 
would,  I  thought,  be  time  enough  to  prepare  the  rejoicing  when  we  knew 
we  should  have  occasion  to  rejoice.  They  seemed  surprised  that  I  did  not 
immediately  comply  with  their  proposal.  "Why  the  d — 1"  said  one  of 
them  "you  surely  don't  suppose  that  the  fort  will  not  be  taken?"  "I 
don't  know  that  it  will  not  be  taken  ;  but  I  know  that  the  events  of  war 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PEXNYSLVANIA.       225 

are  subject  to  great  uncertainty."  l  I  gave  them  the  reasons  of  my  doubt- 
ing ;  the  subscription  was  dropt,  and  the  projectors  thereby  missed  the 
mortification  they  would  have  undergone,  if  the  firework  had  been  pre- 
pared. Dr  Bond,  on  some  other  occasion  afterward,  said,  that  he  did  not 
like  Franklin' s  forebodings. 

Those  April  days  passed  in  Braddock's  society  at  Frederic- 
town  had  not  given  Franklin  confidence  in  the  general's  ability 
to  succeed  in  such  untried  warfare.  When  Braddock  was  detail- 
ing to  him  his  confident  plans  by  which  Fort  Duquesne  would 
easily  be  taken,  and  from  thence  to  Niagara  for  its  capture,  and 
thence  to  Frontenac  "  if  the  season  will  allow  time,  and  I  sup- 
pose it  will,  for  Duquesne  can  hardly  detain  me  above  three  or 
four  days,  and  then  I  see  nothing  that  can  obstruct  my  march 
to  Niagara." 

But  Franklin 2  ventured  only  to  say,  To  be  sure,  sir,  if  you  arrive 
well  before  Duquesne,  with  these  fine  troops,  so  well  provided  with  artil- 
lery, that  place  not  yet  compleatly  fortified,  and  as  we  hear  with  no  very 
strong  garrison,  can  probably  make  but  a  short  resistance.  The  only 
danger  I  apprehend  of  obstruction  to  your  march  is  from  ambuscades  of 
Indians,  who,  by  constant  practice,  are  dexterous  in  laying  and  executing 
them  ;  and  the  slender  line,  near  four  miles  long,  which  your  army  must 
make,  may  expose  it  to  be  cut  like  a  thread  into  several  pieces,  which, 
frbm  their  distance,  cannot  come  up  in  time  to  support  each  other.  He 
smiled  at  my  ignorance,  and  reply' d,  These  savages,  may,  indeed,  be  a 
formidable  enemy  to  your  raw  American  militia,  but  upon  the  King's 
regular  and  disciplined  troops,  sir,  it  is  impossible  they  should  make  any 
impression.  I  was  conscious  of  an  impropriety  in  my  disputing  with  a 
military  man  in  matters  of  his  profession,  and  said  no  more. 

But  Braddock's  boast  was  remembered  to  the  discourage- 
ment of  Dr  Bond's  proposed  firework. 

This  serious  reverse  to  the  British  arms  brought  renewed 
dangers  to  the  frontiers  ;  the  proprietaires,  yet  unwilling  to  suffer 
taxation  on  their  lands,  now  thoroughly  alarmed,  added  five 
thousand  pounds  of  their  money  to  whatever  sum  might  be 
given  by  the  Assembly  for  such  purpose ;  whereupon  the 
Assembly  passed  a  new  bill  with  a  clause  exempting  from  taxa- 
tion their  estates,  and  voted  sixty  thousand  pounds,  chiefly  for 

1  Bigelow,  i.  263.  2  Bigelow,  i.  258. 


226       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  defence  of  the  province,  which  was  to  be  disposed  of  by 
seven  commissioners,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Isaac  Norris,  James 
Hamilton,  John  Mifflin,  Joseph  Fox,  Evan  Morgan  and  John 
Hughes.  Franklin  says 

I  had  been  active  in  modelling  the  bill  and  procuring  its  passage, 
and  had,  at  the  same  time,  drawn  a  bill  for  establishing  and  disciplining  a 
voluntary  militia,  which  I  carried  thro'  the  House  without  much  difficulty, 
as  care  was  taken  in  it  to  leave  the  Quakers  at  their  liberty.  *  *  * 
While  the  several  companies  in  the  city  and  country  were  forming,  and 
learning  their  exercise,  the  governor  prevail' d  with  me  to  take  charge  of 
our  North  Western  frontier,  which  was  infested  by  the  enemy,  and  provide 
for  the  defense  of  the  inhabitants  by  raising  troops  and  building  a  line  of 
forts.  I  undertook  this  military  business,  tho'  I  did  not  conceive  myself 
well  qualified  for  it.  *  *  *  I  had  but  little  difficulty  in  raising  men, 
having  soon  five  hundred  and  sixty  under  my  command.  *  *  *  The 
Indians  had  burned  Gnadenhut,  a  village  settled  by  the  Moravians,  and 
massacred  the  inhabitants.  *  *  *  In  order  to  march  thither,  I  assem- 
bled the  companies  at  Bethlehem,  the  chief  establishment  of  those  people. 

He  with  Hamilton  and  Fox  left  Philadelphia  on  18  Decem- 
ber "  for  the  Frontiers  in  order  to  settle  Matters  for  the 
Defence  of  the  Province."3  On  15  January,  1756  he  writes  to  his 
wife 

I  hope  in  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks,  God  willing,  to  see  the  intended 
line  of  forts  finished,  and  then  I  shall  make  a  trip  to  Philadelphia,  and 
send  away  the  lottery  tickets,  and  pay  off  the  prizes,  though  you  may  pay 
such  as  come  to  hand  of  those  sold  in  Philadelphia  of  my  signing. 

This  reference  was  to  the  second  class  of  the  Academy 
Lottery,  the  drawings  for  which  had  been  made  on  25  December, 
the  first  class  drawings  having  been  on  28  August.  On  his 
return  to  Philadelphia,  early  in  February,  he  was  commissioned 
Colonel,  William  Masters  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  John  Ross 
Major  of  the  Philadelphia  Regiment4  He  writes  to  his  sister 
on  12  February,5 

I  am  just  returned  from  my  military  expedition,  and  now  my  time  is 
taken  up  in  the  Assembly.  Providence  seems  to  require  various  duties  of 
me.  I  know  not  what  will  be  next,  but  I  find,  the  more  I  seek  for  leisure 
and  retirement  from  business,  the  more  I  am  engaged  in  it. 

3  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  1 8  December,  1755. 

*  Ibid,  19  February,  1756.  5  Bigelow,  ii.  455. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        227 

In  the  month  following  he  visits  Virginia  with  Col.  Hunter  his 
associate  postmaster  general,  from  whence  he  did  not  return 
home  until  early  in  June.  His  attendance  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Trustees  this  month  was  his  first  for  the  year.  He  was  immedi- 
ately afterwards  in  New  York.  And  in  November  he  was  again 
drawn  North  by  the  restlessness  of  the  Indians,  with  whom  a 
conference  was  held  at  Easton  beginning  on  the  8th,  when  he 
and  Fox  and  Masters,  and  Hughes,  were  delegates  from  the 
Assembly,  and  Dr.  Peters  and  William  Logan  from  the  Council. 

His  many  absences  of  late  brought  some  inconvenience  to 
the  Trustees,  and  at  the  meeting  of  1 1  May,  1756,  while  he  was  in 
Virginia,  the  annual  election  recurring  afforded  the  opportunity 
for  electing  Dr.  Peters  President  for  the  ensuing  year.  Besides  the 
June  meeting,  he  attended  those  in  September  and  December, 
and  that  of  n  January,  1757,  but  on  4  April  following  he  set 
out  on  his  first  mission  to  England  as  representative  of  the 
Assembly  and  his  immediate  counsels  were  from  that  time  lost 
to  his  fellow  Trustees. 

At  the  time  of  Dr.  Peters  succession  to  the  Presidency  a 
minute  was  adopted 

as  the  Trustees  apprehended  that  in  Case  of  the  Absence  or  Indisposition 
of  their  President  they  were  not  authorised  to  meet  on  Special  Occasions, 
how  much  soever  the  Nature  of  the  Case  might  require  their  immediate 
Attention,  it  was  Resolved  that  in  Case  of  the  absence  or  Sickness  of  the 
President,  the  Senior  Trustee  shall  be  vested  with  all  the  powers  of  a 
President  by  Virtue  of  which  he  is  to  call  special  meetings  and  preside  in 
them  ; 

which  action  freed  them  from  the  difficulties  often  arising 
in  Franklin's  absence. 

When  Franklin's  mission  of  1757  was  initiated  the  words 
of  the  Assembly's  resolution  of  28  January  were  that  a 
Committee  "  be  appointed  to  go  Home  to  England  on  behalf 
of  the  People  of  this  Province  to  solicit  a  Removal  of  the 
Grievances  we  labour  under  by  Reason  of  Proprietary  In- 
structions," and  when  Isaac  Norn's  the  Speaker  and  Benjamin 
Franklin  were  next  day  "  requested  to  go,"  it  was  still  "  to  go 
Home  to  England."  The  light  of  later  days  dims  to  our  sight 


228        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  appealing  force  of  those  words  we  find  in  the  votes  of  As- 
sembly, which  the  people  employed  to  express  their  hope  that 
redress  would  be  found  at  Home  in  England.6  The  Revolu- 
tionary War,  which  culminated  a  score  of  years  later  over- 
shadows to  us  the  stirring  politics  and  the  Indian  Warfare  which 
lay  in  a  long  series  of  years  behind  that ;  but  upon  a  study  of  those 
times  we  must  reach  some  realization  of  the  stir  and  commotion, 
the  fears  and  anxieties  of  those  earlier  years  in  which  our  forefathers 
were  being  schooled  for  greater  things.  The  College  and 
Academy  furnished  from  its  Trustees  men  who  joined  in  all  the 
issues  of  the  time,  and  no  meeting  could  convene  in  the  interests 
of  their  young  institution  without  some  of  them  exchanging  sen- 
timents on  the  events  of  the  day.  Among  the  Trustees  all 
shades  of  political  opinion  and  religious  thought  were  repre- 
sented, and  the  politics  of  those  days  were  as  sharply  defined 
and  as  penetrating  as  any  we  ourselves  are  participants  in  ;  but 
we  cannot  to-day  measure  the  happy  influences  which  must 
have  flowed  from  these  meetings,  the  common  interests  on  behalf 
of  the  Academy  must  have  smoothed  away  the  asperities  of  the 
Assembly  or  the  Press,  at  the  least  for  the  time  being,  and 
friendships  were  maintained  and  continued  which  otherwise 
might  have  been  severed.  But  the  growing  public  concerns  in 
which  Franklin  became  involved  by  his  own  aptitude  and  the 
selection  of  either  Assembly  or  Governor,  was  now  telling  on 
his  attendance  at  the  College  and  Academy  and  the  meetings  of 
its  trustees  ;  and  finally  his  long  absences  abroad  made  a  com- 
plete severance,  and  the  way  was  soon  open  for  the  uncharity  of 
politics  to  lessen  his  influence  and  mar  his  plans  in  the  great 
work  of  a  firm  and  sound'educational  institution  which  was  second 
in  his  affections  to  no  other  of  his  creations. 


6  It  was  in  the  same  light,  that  a  few  years  later  the  Vestry  of  Christ  Church 
at  a  meeting  held  4  December,  1760,  voted  an  address  to  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  of  thanks  for  the  Society's  compliance  with 
their  request  of  the  previous  year  in  the  disposition  of  the  Jauncey  bequest,  by 
directing  "  Chuch  Warden  Harrison  to  draw  a  fair  copy  and  send  it  home" 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       229 


XXXI. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  the  College  proceeded  amid  all  the 
clash  of  arms  and  wrangle  of  politics  and  the  young  men  were 
being  fitted  for  their  stations  in  life  by  the  faculty  ;  the  young 
Provost  with  his  happy  facility  of  devising  pleasant  exercises  for 
the  pupils  and  encouraging  them  by  bringing  them  skillfully  to 
the  notice  of  the  community,  early  arranged  for  one  of  the  pub- 
lic exercises  in  which  his  management  was  so  successful.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  helpful  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  institution  in 
furthering  the  interests  of  all  than  these  efforts  of  Mr.  Smith. 
Six  months  had  not  elapsed  before  he  planned  his  first  public 
exhibition  of  their  oratorical  powers,  and  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  14  November,  1754,  affords  us  ajgraphic  account  of  the 
entertainment  in  "  Our  Academy  "  which  was  of  a  novel  character 
for  the  quiet  city  of  Philadelphia,  but  full  of  great  promise  to 
all  who  had  any  interest  in  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of 
education  in  the  Province. 

Last  Tuesday  the  Students  in  Philosophy  which  compose  the  higher 
class  in  our  Academy  delivered  a  Series  of  publick  Exercises  before  the 
Trustees.  As  their  Exercises  were  the  first  of  the  Kind  in  our  young 
Seminary,  they  drew  together  a  large  Audience  of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, 
particularly  his  Honour  our  Lieutenant  Governor  ;  his  Excellency  John 
Tinker,  Esq.,  Governor  of  Providence  ;  the  Honourable  James  Hamilton, 
Esq. ,  our  late  Governor,  with  several  other  Persons  of  Distinction. 

The  exercises  were  ushered  in  with  a  Prologue,  which  (excepting  the 
Lines  marked  with  the  inverted  Comma)  was  written  by  the  ingenious 
young  Author  who  spoke  it.  The  marked  lines  were  added  or  altered  by 
the  Hand  that  wrote  the  Epilogue,  and  digested  the  Whole.  After  the 
Prologue,  the  Exercises  were  as  follows  ; 

ist  On  the  Advantages  of  Education  in  General. 

2nd  An  Enquiry-  into  the  several  Branches  of  Education,  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  just  Importance  or  Moment  of  each. 

3d.  An  Address  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  and  to  his  Honour 
the  Lieutenant  Governor,  &c 

4th  On  Logick 

5th  On  Method 

6th  On  Moral  Philosophy 

7th  A  Hymn  to  Philosophy 


230       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  whole  concluded  with  an  Occasional  Epilogue  spoken  by  Master 
Billy  Hamilton.  As  he  is  a  child  under  Nine  years  of  age,  and  spoke 
it  with  a  great  deal  of  Humour  and  Propriety,  it  gave  inexpressible  Satis- 
faction to  the  Audience. 

The  Prologue  and  Epilogue  are  subjoined  ;  and  the  Exercises  will  be 
published  in  our  future  Papers,  by  particular  desire,  as  they  form  a  regular 
Treatise  on  the  Sciences. 

In  the  Prologue  which  was  spoken  by  young  Duche, 
occur  his  lines,  addressing  the  Trustees  : 

You  who  in  polish' d  Arts  and  Merits  Shine 

The  Kind  protectors  of  the  Sacred  Nine, 

Whose  Patriot  Toils,  your  country' s  Pride  and  Grace, 

Build  up  her  Fame  on  Virtue's  lasting  Base  ; 

To  you  our  first  Essays  in  Prose  belong, 

Be  you  the  Patrons  of  our  early  Song.1 

Master  Billy  Hamilton,  who  spoke  the  Epilogue  "  with  a 
great  deal  of  Humor  and  Propriety,"  became  the  graduate  of 
1762,  and  is  principally  known  to  us  as  the  builder  of  Wood- 
lands Mansion,  but  his  political  attitude  in  the  Revolution  did 
not  afford  his  fellow  citizens  any  inexpressible  satisfaction. 

We  have  seen  that  at  the  meeting  of  30  June,  1755,  the 
Trustees  proposed  to  "visit  Mr.  Smith's  school  and  inform 
themselves  particularly "  in  the  Branches  he  taught  and  the 
proficiency  of  his  pupils,  the  result  being  full  satisfaction  to 
them  and  bringing  to  a  conclusion  at  their  meeting  following 
the  question  of  his  salary.  And  to  afford  a  more  public  exhibit 
of  his  work  and  display  the  success  of  his  pupils,  he  planned  a 
programme  for  the  22  July,  in  which  many  of  them  could 
show  to  their  parents  and  friends  the  high  mark  they  had 
reached  in  learning  and  composition.  A  notice  of  this  can  best 
be  told  in  the  words  of  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  31  July, 
which  doubtless  were  contributed  in  the  language  of  the  Provost, 
whose  "  Hand  digested  the  whole,"  as  in  the  Exercises  of  the 
previous  November,  and  whose  communications  for  the  public 
eye  were  the  composition  of  a  master  in  this  art. 

We  hear  that  Philosophical  Discourses,    on  the  following  Subjects, 


1  A  MS  copy  of  this  performance  in    Mr.  Smith's  handwriting  is  among  the 
Penn  Papers  on  file  with  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       231 

were  delivered  in  the  College  and  Academy  Hall  on  Tuesday  the  Twenty 
Second  Instant  by  several  of  the  Students  greatly  to  the  Satisfaction  of  a 
numerous  and  Polite  Audience,  viz: 

MORAL 

1.  On  the  Supreme  Good,  by  JOHN  HALL 

2.  On  Temperance,  by  JAMES  LATTA 

MISCELLANEOUS  and  POLITICAL 

3.  On  the  Uses  and  Pleasures  of  Imagination,  by  FRANCIS  HOPKINSON 

4.  On  the  Distribution  of  Power  and  different  Forms  of  Government,  by 

WILLIAM  MASTERS 

5.  On  the  Necessity  of  human  Force  'to  the  Support  of  human  Government, 

by  ISRAEL  MARTIN 

6.  On  the  Question — "  Whether  a  State  of  Nature  (so-called)  be  a  State  of 

War  ?  "  — By  three  Speakers  in  the  Forensic  Manner,  viz:  SAMUEL 
MAGAW,  HUGH  WILLIAMSON  and  JACOB  DUCHE. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  subjects  were  clearly  Political,  and 
bore  on  questions  which  were  then  uppermost  in  the  minds  of 
the  community,  and  in  which  the  Provost's  interest  and  activities 
were  second  to  none  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

The  Trustees  had  at  their  meeting  of  30  June,  1755  author- 
ized an  expenditure  of  ^443.  "  concerning  the  Alterations  neces- 
sary to  be  made  in  the  Hall,"  which  embraced 

a  Gallery  along  three  sides  of  the  Hall  finished  like  those  of  Mr.  Ten- 
nent's  Building,2  the  Fronts  painted,  and  under  side  of  the  Joice  plaister'd 
without  any  Pews  made  *  *  *  a  Platform  for  accommodating  the 
Trustees,  the  Masters,  Candidates  for  Degrees,  and  Strangers  of  Distinc- 
tion on  publick  occasions, 

and  other  items  of  lesser  dignity ;  thus  preparing  fitting  accom- 
modations for  pupils,  masters,  and  visitors  on  all  special  occa- 
sions, so  that  this  commodious  building  so  happily  secured  in 
the  outset  of  the  enterprise  was  gradually  being  made  fit  for  all 
its  employments  both  regular  and  occasional. 


The  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 


232        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XXXII. 

Two  names  now  first  appear  on  the  roll  of  tutors,  those  of 
Hugh  Williamson  and  James  Latta,  who  were  both  members  of 
the  first  graduating  class,  both  becoming  eminent  in  their  call- 
ings, the  former  in  particular,  attaining  celebrity  in  Mathematics 
and  Medicine  and  also  as  a  Politician,  and  becoming  one  of  the 
Faculty  as  Professor  of  Mathematics  when  he  was  twenty-six 
years  of  age.  At  the  meeting  of  9  December,  1755,  Franklin 
in  the  chair — the  first  recorded  since  that  of  1 1  July,  it  was 

ordered  that  Hugh  Williamson  and  James  Latta,  who  have  alternately  sup- 
plied the  Place  of  one  Usher  in  the  Latin  School  from  the  I3th  of  June 
until  the  ist  of  November,  be  paid  after  the  rate  of  sixty  pounds  per 
annum  for  their  Attendance  during  the  above  Term,  and  that  their  future 
Salaries  be  ascertained  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees. 

Action  on  this  was  not  reached  until  10  February  follow- 
ing, when  the  following  Minute  appears  : 

Hugh  Williamson  the  present  Writing  Master  and  James  Latta  Tutor  in 
the  Latin  School  are  ordered  each  the  sum  of  Fifty  Pounds  as  their  stated 
annual  Salaries. 

We  shall  desire  to  know  somewhat  more  both  of  Williamson 
and  Latta  in  the  course  of  our  narrative. 

The  Provost  attends  the  meeting  of  Trustees  on  13  April, 
1756,  there  being  a  goodly  number  present,  namely,  Mess. 
Allen,  Peters,  Turner,  Cadwalader,  Shippen,  Mifflin,  Strettell, 
Masters,  Maddox,  Coleman,  Stedman,  Leech,  and  Inglis,  Frank- 
lin being  then  absent  on  Post  Office  duty  in  Virginia  ;  and  he 
sketched  out  to  them  a  more  equitable  division  of  the  faculty 
work  which  was  assented  to.  The  minute  tells  its  own  story  : 

Mr.  Smith  represented  to  the  Trustees,  that  the  number  of  Classes 
which  study  Philosophy  being  now  increased  to  three  and  likely  always  to 
continue  at  that  Number,  it  would  be  no  longer  possible  for  him  with  what 
Assistance  Mr.  Grew  can  spare  from  his  present  Business  to  carry  on  the 
proposed  Scheme  of  liberal  Education,  unless  some  further  Assistance  was 
granted. 

It  was  therefore  agreed  that  in  the  present  Situation  of  the  Funds 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       233 

the  only  possible  Method  of  doing  Justice  to  the  Situation  without  any 
addition  to  the  present  Number  of  Teachers,  is  as  follows  : 

That  Mr.  Alison  be  appointed  a  Professor  of  the  Higher  Classics, 
Logic,  Metaphysicks  and  Geography  ;  and  that  he  teach  any  of  the  other 
Arts  and  Sciences  that  he  may  judge  himself  qualified  to  teach,  as  the 
Circumstances  of  the  Philosophy  Schools  may  require  ;  but  if  it  so  happen 
that  Mr.  Smith  can  spare  time  from  his  Imployment  in  the  other  Branches 
of  Literature  to  teach  any  of  these  Branches,  then  and  in  that  case  Mr. 
Alison  shall  employ  the  overplus  of  his  Time,  as  usual  in  the  Grammar 
School  in  the  capacity  of  Chief  Master. 

That  Mr.  Jackson  be  appointed  a  Professor  of  the  Languages  to 
employ  his  Time  in  the  Grammar  School  and  to  have  the  Care  of  all  the 
Latin  and  Greek  Classes  that  are  not  under  Mr.  Alison's  more  immediate 
Care  while  he  is  employed  in  the  Philosophy  School.  And  in  consideration 
of  Mr.  Jackson's  being  appointed  a  Professor,  and  having  declined  an 
advantageous  Offer  made  him  by  the  Overseers  of  the  Quaker  School  it  is 
agreed  to  augment  his  Salary  to  the  sum  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Pounds 
per  annum,  commencing  from  the  Time  the  said  offer  was  made  him,  viz  : 
in  September,  1755. 

That  whenever  Mr  Kinnersley  is  supply' d  with  an  Assistant  agreeable 
to  a  late  order  of  the  Trustees,  Mr  Williamson  shall  spend  the  Whole  of 
his  Time  in  the  Latin  School  to  supply  Mr  Alison's  Place,  while  employed 
in  the  upper  Schools. 

The  Provost,  with  his  ready  thought,  suggested  at  this 
meeting  the  early7  preparation  of  a  Seal  for  the  use  of  the  Cor- 
poration. And  it  was  agreed 

That  Mr  Smith  prepare  a  public  Seal  for  the  Colledge  with  a  proper 
Device  and  Motto  and  get  the  same  speedily  engraved  on  Silver. 

We  find  by  Mr.  Coleman's  cash  account,  under  date  of  I  I 
July  following,  that  he  "pd.  James  Turner,  Engraver,  for  a  Seal 
with  device,  &c.  ^18.19.9^." 

A  few  days  later  we  hear  of  another  of  Mr.  Smith's  pleasant 
plans  for  bringing  the  pupils  of  the  Academy  to  the  notice  of  the 
community. 

To-morrow,  at  Ten  o'clock,  in  the  Forenoon,  the  public  Examination 
of  Candidates  for  Degrees  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  will  be  begun, 
and  continued  that  Day  and  part  of  the  Day  following.  The  Company  of 
such  of  the  Inhabitants  of  this  City  as  please  to  attend,  will  be  very  agree- 
able. l 


1  Pennsylvania  Gazftt(,  29  April,  1756. 


234        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XXXIII. 

We  come  now  to  the  Provost's  formula  or  scheme  for  a 
complete  curriculum,  which  must  be  our  guide  in  estimating  in 
the  coming  years  his  system  of  education  in  the  College,  which 
was  unequalled  in  any  institution  in  this  new  Western  country 
for  its  comprehensiveness  and  thoroughness.  We  first  receive 
knowledge  of  it  at  this  meeting  in  April,  1756,  when  it  was 

Agreed  that  a  Scheme  of  liberal  Education  offered  by  the  Faculty  for  the 
Approbation  of  the  Trustees  be  tried  for  the  space  of  three  Years  from 
this  Date  and  that  Mr  Smith  publish  the  Same  in  Order  to  obtain  the  Sen- 
timents of  Persons  of  Learning  and  Experience  concerning  it. 

It  first  saw  publication  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  12 
August,  1756.  The  Trustees  were  conservatively  inclined,  and 
before  committing  themselves  to  adopting  for  all  time  the  cur- 
riculum proposed,  sought  for  it  publicity  in  order  to  draw  upon  it 
the  criticism?,  or  to  speak  more  courteously,  the  Sentiments  of 
the  Learned  and  Experienced.  The  substantial  continuance  of 
its  employment  through  Provost  Smith's  career  proved  its  excel- 
lence and  its  adaptability  to  the  wants  of  the  College ;  and  we 
must  read  it  here  in  its  entirety  to  judge  of  its  great  merits. 

The  source  of  this  excellent  formula  may  be  found  in 
the  curriculum  at  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  where  William 
Smith  had  been  trained  a  decade  before.  While  there  may  be 
amendments  to  it,  induced  by  local  circumstances  and  drawn 
from  his  own  rare  ingenuity,  it  may  be  said  to  be  substantially 
framed  on  that  course,  to  which  he  had  an  attachment,  and 
of  which  he  had  doubtless  proved  its  great  merits.  But  whence 
ever  its  origin  or  conception,  it  is  the  first  complete  curriculum 
for  a  college  training  which  the  American  colonies  had  yet 
witnessed  or  recognized,  and  will  stand  for  all  time  as  the  fore- 
runner in  all  advanced  education  on  these  shores. 

For  the  Historical  Account  and  Present  State  of  the 
"University  and  King's  College  of  Aberdeen  "  and  the  "  Maris- 
chal  College  and  University  of  Aberdeen,"  to  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  including  their  courses  of  study,  we  refer  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        235 

Thorn's   History  of  Aberdeen.^     Quoting    from   the   Appendix 
containing  the  account  of  King's  College,  it  is  said  : 

In  the  year  1753  the  whole  plan  of  discipline  and  education  in  King's 
College  was  brought  under  review  for  the  purpose  of  improvement.  A 
great  number  of  statutes  relative  to  these  objects,  since  known  by  the  name 
of  "  The  New  Regulations,"  were  enacted  by  the  College,  and  submitted 
to  the  examination  of  the  public.  In  framing  these  regulations,  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Reid's  opinion  and  views  respecting  education,  are  supposed  in 
general  to  have  prevailed.  *  *  *  That  less  time  than  usual  should  be 
spent  in  the  logic  and  metaphysics  of  the  schools,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
second  year  be  employed  in  acquiring  the  elements  of  natural  history  in  all 
its  branches  ;  that  the  professor  of  Greek  and  humanity  should  open 
classes  for  the  more  advanced  students  during  the  three  last  years  of  their 
course  ;  that  a  museum  of  natural  history  should  be  fitted  up  and  furnished 
with  specimens  for  the  instruction  of  the  students,  and  that  a  collection  of 
instruments  and  machines  relative  to  natural  philosophy,  and  a  chemical 
laboratory  for  exhibiting  experiments  in  that  science,  should  be  provided 
with  all  convenient  speed.  For  some  years  the  good  effects  of  these  regu- 
lations seemed  very  flattering,  and  the  masters  thought  they  might  con- 
gratulate themselves  upon  ' '  having  under  their  care  a  set  of  the  most  regular 
and  diligent  students  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  King's  dominions," 
(printed  memorial  to  Lord  Findlater,  chancellor,  relative  to  the  union, 
1755)- 

It  will  be  recalled2  that  Mr.  Smith  was  in  Aberdeen  at  the 
close  of  1753,  having  proceeded  immediately  after  his  ordina- 
tion in  London  Northwards  to  visit  his  "honored  father,"  and 
where  he  preached  his  maiden  sermon  in  the  kirk  in  which  he 
was  baptised.  And  he  may  then  have  procured  a  copy  of  The 
New  Regulations  which  became  useful  to  him  in  his  per- 
formance of  I  756. 

This  proposed  scheme,3  is  in  the  form  of  Views  of  the 
Latin  and  Greek  Schools  and  of  the  Philosophy  School,  and 
was  "subscribed  by  the  Faculty  of  masters." 


1  By  Walter  Thorn,  2  vols.  Aberdeen,  1811.     With  Appendices  I  and  II. 

2  >mith,  i.  39. 

3"  It  was  not  until  Dr.  Smith  established  at  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  in 
1756,  the  first  graded  course  of  studies  of  a  higher  kind  ever  pursued  in  an  American 
College,  that  a  young  man  here  had  an  opportunity  of  laying  broad  and  deep  the  foun- 
dations of  a  liberal  culture,  such  as  he  would  have  enjoyed  had  he  gone  abroad  for 
that  purpose."  Provost  Stille  in  his  Life  and  Times  of  John  Dickinson,  p.  15. 


236       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  LATIN  and  GREEK  SCHOOLS. 
ist  STAGE.     Grammar.  Vocabulary.   Sententise    Pueriles.   Cordery, 
Erasmus. 

N.  B.  To  be  exact  in  declining  and  conjugating.  To  begin  to 
write  Exercises,  for  the  better  understanding  of  Syntax.  Writing  and 
Reading  of  English  to  be  continued  if  necessary. 

2nd  STAGE.  Selectas  e  veteri  Testamento.  Selectae  e  profanis  Authoribus. 
Eutropius.  Nessos.  Metaphorphosis.  Latin  Exercises  and  Writing 
continued. 

3rd    STAGE.     Metamorphosis    continued.      Virgil  with    Prosody.     Caesar's 
Comment.      Sallust.      Greek  Grammar.     Greek  Testament.     Elements 
of  Geography  and  Chronology.     Exercises  in  Writing  continued. 
4th  STAGE.  Horace.     Terence.     Virgil  reviewed.     Livy.     Lucian.     Xeno- 
phon  or  Homer  begun. 

N.  B.  This  Year  to  make  Themes ;  write  Letters;  give  Descrip- 
tions and  Characters.  To  turn  Latin  into  English,  with  great  Regard 
to  Punctuation  and  choice  of  Words.  Some  English  and  Latin  Ora- 
tions to  be  delivered,  with  proper  Grace  both  of  Elocution  and  Gesture. 
Arithmetic  begun. 

Probably  some  youths  will  go  thro'  these  Stages  in  three  years,  many 
will  require  four  years,  and  many  more  may  require  five  years,  especially  if 
they  begin  under  nine  or  ten  years  of  age.  The  masters  must  exercise 
their  best  discretion  in  this  respect. 

Those  who  can  acquit  themselves  to  satisfaction  in  the  books  laid 
down  for  the  fourth  stage,  after  public  examination,  are  to  proceed  to  the 
study  of  the  sciences,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the  College  as  Freshmen, 
with  the  privilege  of  being  distinguished  with  an  undergraduate's  gown. 
The  method  of  study  to  be  prosecuted  in  the  College  for  the  term  of  three 
years,  follows  in  one  general  view: 

VIEW  OF  THE  PHILOSOPHY  SCHOOLS. 

P'ORENOON 

INSTRUMENTAL  PHILOSOPHY 
LECTURE  I  LECTURE  II 

Lat.  &  Engl.  Exercises     Arithmetic  reviewed 
continu'd 


FIRST  YEAR 
FRESHMEN  May  15 

First  Term 
Three  Months 
Second  Term 
Three  Months 


January 
Third  Term 
Four  Months 


Logic  with  Metaphysics 


Decimal  Arithmetic 

Algebra 

Fractions  and  Extract.  Roots 

Equations      simple      and 

quadratic 
Euclid  (Stone)  Six  Books 


Euclid  a  Second  Time 
Logarithmical  Arithmetic 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        237 


Remarks. 


SECOND  YEAR 
JUNIORS,  May  15 

First  Term 
Three  Months 
Second  Term 
Three  Months 


January 

Third  Term 
Four  Months 


THIRD  YEAR 
SENIORS  May  1 5 


First  Term 
Three  Months 


Second  Term 
Three  Months 


January 
Third  Term 
Four  Months 


N.  B.  At  leisure  hours 
Disputation  begun. 

Duncan's  Logic  as  a 
Classic  ;  to  be  sup- 
plied by  Le  Clerc,  or 
Crousaz  on  Syllo- 
gisms. 

Logic,  £c  reviewed 

Surveying  and  Dialling 

Navigation 

Conic  Sections 
Fluxions 

MORAL  PHILOSOPHY 

begun . 

viz:  Fordyce'scompend. 
System . 


N.  B.  Disputation  con- 
tinu'd.  Fordyce  well 
understood  will  be  an 
excellent  Introduction 
to  the  larger  Ethic 
Writers 


Hutcheson's  Ethics. 


N.  B.  On  Construction  of 
Logarithms,  use  Wilson' s 
Trigonometry,  and  Sher- 
win's  compleat  Tables  by 
Gardiner. 


Plain    &    Spherical    Trigo- 
nometry 


Euclid  I  ith  Book 

1 2th  Ditto 

Architecture  with  Fortificat 
NAT.   PHILOSOPHY,     begun 

viz:  Rowning's  Propert.  of 
Body 

Mechanic   Powers 

Hydrostatics 

Pneumatics. 

N.  B.  Declamation  con- 
tinued.  Rowninga 
general  System  may  be 
supplied  by  the  larger 
Works  in  the  last  Column, 
recommended  for  private 
Study 

Rowning   on    Light   and 

Colours 
Optics 


Burlamequi  on  Natural 
Law 

Introduction  to  Civil  His- 
tory. 

to  Laws  and  Gov- 
ernment 

to  Trade  and  Com- 
merce 

Review  of  the  Whole 

ExaminaL  for  Degree  of 
B.  A. 


Perspective,  Jesuits 


Astronomy,  Keif  s 

Natural  History  of  Vege- 
tables 
of  Animals 

Chemistry,  Shaw's  Boer- 

haave 
of  Fossils 
of  Agriculture 


238        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


FIRST  YEAR 


FRESHMAN,    May 

First  Term 
Three  Months 


Second  Term 
Three  Months 


January 
Third  Term 
Four  Months 


N.  B.  Altho'  it  is  tho't 
necessary  to  fix  some 
Classics  as  a  Text  to 
read  the  Lectures  by, 
yet  there  must  be  a 
Liberty  of  changing 
them  left  when  needful 

AFTERNOON 
Classical    and     Rhetoric 

Studies 
LECTURE  III 

15    Homer's  Iliad 
Juvenal 


Pindar 

Cicero,  Select  Parts 

Livy  resumed 


Thucydides,  or 

Euripides 

Wells' s  Dionysius 

N.  B.  Some  Afternoons 
to  be  Spared  for 
Declamation  this  year 


SECOND  YEAR 
JUNIORS  May  15 

First  Term 
Three  Months 


Second  Term 
Three  Months 


Rhetoric  from  Preceptor 
Longinus  critically 


Horace'  s  Art   of  Poetry 

critically 

Aristot    Poet,    critically. 
Quintilian,   Select   Parts. 


N.  B.  Thro'  all  the  years 
the  French  Language 
may  be  Studied  at 
leisure  Hours. 


PRIVATE  HOURS 
Miscellaneous  Studies 

For  improv.  the  various 
Branches 

Spectators,  Ramblers, 
and  monthly  Maga- 
zines, for  the  Improve- 
ment of  Style  and 
Knowledge  of  Life. 

Barrow' s  Lectures,  Par- 
die' s  Geometry,  Mac 
laurin'  s  Algebra, 
Ward's  Mathematics, 
Keil's  Trigonometry. 

Watts' s  Logic,  and  Sup- 
plement, Locke  on 
Human  Understand- 
ing, Hutcheson'  s 
Metaphysics,  V  a  r  e  - 
nius's  Geography, 
Watts' s  Ontology  and 
Essays,  Kingde  Origine 
Mali  with  Law's  Notes. 

V  o  s  s  i  u  s  ,  Bossu,  Pere 
Bohours,  D  r  y  d  e  n '  s 
Essays  and  Prefaces, 
Spence  on  Pope's 
Odyssey,  Trapp'  s 
Prcelect.  Poet.  Diony- 
sius Halicarn,  Deme- 
trius Phalereus,  Stradas 
Prolusiones,  Patoun's 
Navigation,  Gregory's 
Geometry,  Bisset  on 
Fortification,  Simp- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       239 


January 
Third  Term 
Four  Months 


Remarks 


THIRD  YEAR 
SENIORS  May  15 

First  Term 
Three  Months. 


Second  Term 
Three  Months 


January 
Third  Term 
Four  Months 


COMPOSITION  begun, 
viz:  Cicero  pro  Milone 

Demosthenes  pro  Ctesi- 
phon. 

N.  B.  During  the  Appli- 
cation of  the  Rules  to 
these  famous  Orations, 
imitations  of  them  are 
to  be  attempted  on  the 
Models  of  perfect  Elo- 
quence 


Epicteti  Enchiridion 

Cicero  de  officiis 

Tusculan  QuaesL 

Memorabilia  Xenoph. 
Greek 

Patavii  Rationar  Tempo- 
rum. 

Plato  de  Legibus 

Grotius  de  Jure  B.  &  P. 


Afternoons  of  the  3d 
Term,  for  Composition 
and  Declamation  on 
Moral  and  Physical 
Subjects,  Philosophy 
Acts  held. 


son1  s  Conic  Sections, 
Maclaurin's  and  Em- 
erson's Fluxions,  Pal- 
ladia by  Ware. 
Helsham' s  Lectures, 
Gravesande,  Cote's 
Hydrostatics,  Desagu- 
liers,  Muschenbrock, 
Keil's  Introduction, ' 
Martin' s  Philosophy, 
Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
Philosophy,  Maclau- 
rin's View  of  Ditto, 
Rohault  per  Clarke 


Puffendorf  by  Barbeyrac, 
Cumberland  de  Leg. 
Selden  de  Jure,  Spirit 
of  Laws,  Sidney,  Har- 
rington, Seneca, 
Hutcheson's  Works, 
Locke  on  Government, 
Hooker's  Polity,  Scali- 
ger  de  Emendatione 
Temporum,  Compends 
in  Preceptor  Le  Clerc'  s 
Compend  of  History. 

Gregory's  Astronomy, 
Fortescue  on  Laws,  N. 
Bacon's  Discourses, 
My  lord  Bacon's 
Works,  Locke  on 
Civic-Davenant,  Gee's 
Compend.  Ray.  Der- 
ham,  Spectacle  de  la 
Nature;  Rondoletius, 
Religious  Philosopher. 
HOLY  BIBLE  to  be  read 
daily  from  the  Begin- 
ning, and  now  to  sup- 
ply the  Deficiencies  of 
the  Whole. 


240        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

To  this  early  publication  of  the  plan, 

by  a  bare  suggestion  of  which,  any  Parent  may  know  what  Progress  his 
son  makes,  and  what  is  his  standing,  as  well  as  what  Books  to  provide, 
from  Time  to  Time,4 

the  Provost  added  the  following  remarks  elucidating  it  and 
showing  its  merits  ;  he  must  speak  for  himself,  and  to  abbreviate 
it  would  mar  the  force  of  his  statement  : 

Life  itself  being  too  short  to  obtain  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  the 
whole  circle  of  the  Sciences,  nothing  has  ever  been  proposed  by  any  plan 
of  University  Education,  but  to  lay  such  a  general  foundation  in  all  the 
branches  of  literature,  as  may  enable  youth  to  perfect  themselves  in  those 
particular  parts,  to  which  their  business  or  genius,  may  afterwards  lead 
them.  And  scarce  any  thing  has  more  obstructed  the  advancement  of 
sound  learning,  than  a  vain  imagination,  that  a  few  years,  spent  at  college, 
can  render  youth  such  absolute  Masters  of  Science,  as  to  absolve  them  from 
all  future  study. 

As  far  as  our  influence  extends,  we  would  wish  to  propagate  a  con- 
trary doctrine  ;  and  tho'  we  flatter  ourselves  that,  by  a  due  execution  of  the 
foregoing  plan,  we  shall  enrich  our  country  with  many  Minds  that  are  lib- 
erally accomplished,  and  send  out  none  that  may  justly  be  denominated 
barren  or  unimproved  ;  yet  we  hope  that  the  youth  committed  to  our 
tuition,  will  neither  at  college,  nor  afterwards,  rest  satisfied  with  such  a 
general  knowledge,  as  is  to  be  acquired  from  the  public  lectures  and  exer- 
cises. We  rather  trust  that  those  whose  taste  is  once  formed  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  solid  Wisdom,  will  think  it  their  duty  and  most  rational  satisfac- 
tion, to  accomplish  themselves  still  farther,  by  manly  perseverance  in 
private  study  and  meditation. 

To  direct  them  in  this  respect,  the  last  column  contains  a  judicious 
choice  of  the  most  excellent  writers  in  the  various  branches  of  literature, 
which  will  be  easily  understood  when  once  a  foundation  is  laid  in  the 
books  proposed  in  the  plan,  under  the  several  lectures.  For  the  books  to 
be  used  as  Classics,  at  the  lecture  hours,  will  not  be  found  in  this  last  col- 
umn, which  is  only  meant  as  a  private  library,  to  be  consulted  occasionally 
in  the  lectures,  for  the  illustration  of  any  particular  part,  and  to  be  read 
afterwards,  for  compleating  the  whole. 

The  last  book  in  the  catalogue  is  the  HOLY  BIBLE,  without  which  the 
student' s  library  would  be  very  defective.  But  tho'  it  stands  last,  we  do 
not  mean  that  they  are  to  defer  reading  it  to  the  last,  it  being  part  of  our 
daily  exercise,  and  recommended  from  the  beginning.  We  only  intimate, 
by  this  disposition,  that,  when  human  Science  has  done  its  utmost,  and 


^Pennsylvania  Gazette,  12  Aug.  1756. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        241 

when  we  have  thought  the  youth  worthy  of  the  honors  of  the  Seminary, 
yet  still  we  must  recommend  them  to  the  Scriptures  of  God,  in  order  to 
compleat  their  Wisdom,  to  regulate  their  conduct  thro'  life,  and  guide  them 
to  happiness  forever. 

In  the  disposition  of  the  parts  of  this  Scheme,  a  principal  regard  has 
been  paid  to  the  connexion  and  subserviency  of  the  Sciences,  as  well  as  to 
the  gradual  openings  of  young  minds.  Those  parts  are  placed  first,  which 
are  suited  to  strengthen  the  inventive  Faculties,  and  are  instrumental  to 
what  follows.  Those  are  placed  last  which  require  riper  judgment,  and 
are  more  immediately  connected  with  the  main  business  of  life. 

In  the  meantime,  it  is  proposed  that  they  shall  never  drop  their 
acquaintance  with  the  classic  sages.  They  are  every  day  called  to  con- 
verse with  some  one  of  the  ancients,  who,  at  the  same  time  that  he 
charms  with  all  the  beauties  of  language,  is  generally  illustrating  that  par- 
ticular branch  of  philosophy  or  science,  to  which  the  other  hours  of  the 
day  are  devoted.  Thus,  by  continually  drawing  something  from  the  most 
admired  masters  of  Sentiment  and  expression,  the  taste  of  youth  will  be 
gradually  formed,  to  just  Criticism  and  masterly  Composition. 

For  this  reason,  Composition,  in  the  strict  Meaning  of  the  term, 
cannot  be  begun  at  an  earlier  period  than  is  proposed  in  the  plan.  The 
knowledge  of  Mathematics  is  not  more  necessary,  as  an  introduction  to 
natural  philosophy,  than  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  ancient  and  modern 
writers,  especially  the  Critics,  is  to  just  Composition. 

Whoever  would  build,  must  have  both  the  art  and  materials  of 
building  ;  and  therefore  Composition,  from  one's  own  stock,  is  justly 
placed  after  Criticism,  which  supplies  the  art,  and  not  before  Moral  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  which  enriches  the  understanding,  and  furnishes  the 
Materials  or  Topics  for  the  Work. 

Thus  it  is  hoped  the  Student  may  be  led  thro'  a  scale  of  easy  ascent, 
till  finally  render' d  capable  of  Thinking,  Writing  and  Acting  well,  which 
is  the  grand  aim  of  a  liberal  education. — At  the  end  of  every  term,  there 
is  some  time  allowed  for  Recreation,  or  bringing  up  slower  Geniuses. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  some  who  see  this  plan,  may  think  three  years 
too  scanty  a  period  for  its  execution.  We  would  not  be  tenacious  of  our 
opinion  ;  but,  from  an  attentive  consideration  of  the  business  proposed 
for  each  term,  we  are  inclined  to  think  the  time  will  be  sufficient  for  a 
middling  genius,  with  ordinary  application.  And  where  both  genius  and 
application  are  wanting,  we  conceive  no  time  will  be  found  sufficient. 
Experience,  however,  being  the  best  guide  in  matters  of  this  kind,  we 
only  propose  that  a  fair  trial  of  three  years  may  be  made,  before  anything 
farther  is  determined  upon  a  subject  of  such  high  concern. 

Such  a  trial  we  think  due  to  the  present  state  of  our  Seminary,  as 
well  as  to  the  public,  and  the  particular  circumstances  of  these  colonies, 


242        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

where  very  few  youth  can  be  detained  for  a  rlong  period  at  infant  unen- 
dowed colleges,  where  they  must  wholly  maintain  themselves  at  a  consid- 
erable expence,  and  where  the  genius  seems  not  only  to  be  sooner  ripe, 
but  where  there  is  also  a  more  immediate  demand,  and  a  more  easy  settle- 
ment to  be  obtained,  in  all  the  ways  of  genteel  employment,  for  Young 
Men  of  Parts,  than  there  is  in  European  Countries. 

N.  B.  The  utmost  care  will  be  taken  for  a  faithful  execution  of  this 
plan  in  all  its  parts.  The  time  for  admitting  Freshmen  in  the  youngest 
philosophy  class  is  May  13,  according  to  the  plan.  But  those  who  necessarily 
apply  later  in  the  first  year  will  obtain  Admission,  provided  it  appears 
upon  examination  that  they  are  sufficiently  grounded  in  the  parts  laid  down 
in  the  plan,  previous  to  the  date  of  such  their  admission  ;  which  facts  may 
always  be  known  from  inspection,  together  with  the  proficiency  made  by  the 
class  which  they  are  to  join.  The  Sentiments  of  Men  of  Learning  will  be 
thankfully  received  for  perfecting  the  whole  ;  and  upon  a  candid  applica- 
tion to  any  of  the  professors,  they  will  endeavor  to  explain  and  remove  any 
difficulties  that  may  occur  to  any  persons  concerning  it. 

The  plan  was  next  published  in  the  American  Magazine,  of 
which  Mr.  Smith  was  Editor,  in  its  last  number,  October,  1758  ; 
and  the  year  following  he  included  it  in  the  Appendix  to  his 
Discourses  on  Several  Public  Occasions  during  the  War  in 
America,  published  in  London  1759,  with  an  account  of  the 
College  and  Academy,  which  received  a  second  edition,  Lon- 
don, 1762,  and  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Proprietaries,  Thomas 
Penn  and  Richard  Penn  ;  and  these  were  repeated  in  the  edition 
of  his  Works  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1803.  In  the  Ameri- 
can Magazine  he  supplemented  what  has  already  been  quoted 
from  his  pen  on  the  Collegiate  course,  by  an  account  of  the 
Academy  proper,  from  which  we  learn  of  its  conduct  and  its 
tuition.  This  article  entire  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  and 
the  narrative  merits  attention. 

Tn  the  account  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  the  edition 
of  the  Discourses,  London,  1759,  the  foregoing  plan  is  included 
with  the  addition  of  a  short  paragraph  inserted  in  the  middle  of 
the  first  section,  namely  : 

Besides  this  rostrum,  which  is  in  their  private  school,  there  is  also 
a  large  stage  or  oratory  erected  in  the  College  hall,  where  the  Speakers 
appear  on  all  public  occasions,  before  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  as 
please  to  attend. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        243 

And  in  a  footnote,  adds, 

A  number  of  the  students  and  scholars  performed  the  masque  of 
Alfred  by  way  of  Oratorical  Exercise,  before  the  Earl  of  Loudon  and  the 
Governors  of  the  Southern  Colonies,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1757, 
with  very  much  and  just  applause,  and  on  any  occasion  a  sufficient  number 
of  speakers  may  be  selected  to  perform  any  good  piece  of  this  kind. 

To  this  he  further  adds  in  the  edition  of  his  Works,  Phila- 
delphia, 1803  : 

The  choice  of  this  performance  was  owing  to  the  great  similarity  of 
circumstances  in  the  distress  in  England  under  the  Danish  invasion,  and 
that  of  the  colonies  at  this  time  under  the  ravages  and  incursions  of  the 
Indians.  The  whole  was  applied  in  an  occasional  prologue  and  epilogue, 
and  at  any  time  a  sufficient  number  of  Speakers  may  be  found  to  perform 
any  piece  of  the  kind,  in  a  manner  that  would  not  be  disagreeable  to 
persons  of  the  best  taste  and  judgment. 

Selections  from  this  Masque,  "  originally  written  by  the 
pious  and  philosophic  Mr  Thompson  in  conjunction  with  Mr 
Mallet,  and  in  the  year  1751,  altered  and  greatly  improved  by 
the  latter,"  which  had  "  been  several  Times  represented  during 
the  Christmas  Holidays,  in  one  of  the  Apartments  of  the  Col- 
lege," were  given  a  prominent  place  in  numbers  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Gazette  in  January  and  February,  1757,  where  we  learn 
that  young  Jacob  Duche  took  the  part  of  Alfred,  and  Samuel 
Chew  that  of  the  Danish  King.  In  this  cotemporary  account 
Mr  Smith  prefaces  it  with  the  Statement  that 

ever  since  the  first  Foundation  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  this  city, 
the  Improvement  of  the  Youth  in  ORATORY  and  correct  Speaking;  has 
always  been  considered  as  an  essential  Branch  of  their  Education.  And 
though  it  be  a  Branch  too  much  neglected  in  other  Institutions  of  a  like 
kind,  yet  its  importance  is  manifest,  and  nothing  could  have  been  better 
devised  in  the  Circumstances  of  this  Province,  where  the  true  Pronuncia- 
tion of  the  English  Language  might  soon  be  lost  without  proper  care  to 
preserve  it  in  the  rising  Generation,  as  we  are  a  Mixture  of  People  from 
almost  all  corners  of  the  world  ;  speaking  a  variety  of  Languages  and 
Dialects. 


244        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XXXIV. 

We  have  just  seen  in  Provost  Smith's  words  that  from  the 
outset  of  the  Academy  direct  attention  had  been  paid  to  training 
the  boys  in  the  correct  use  of  their  own  language.  The  origi- 
nators had  desired  the  teaching  of  the  English  tongue  gram- 
matically, and  as  a  language  to  be  second  to  no  other  of  the 
objects  of  the  school.  While  the  tendency  of  the  day  was  to 
elevate  the  study  of  the  Classics  and  the  Knowledge  of  the 
Ancients  beyond  any  attention  that  the  pursuit  of  the  Mother 
language  could  possibly  attract,  it  was  Franklin  who  strove  for 
its  proper  maintenance  in  the  Academy ;  he  who  had  studied 
his  native  language  in  the  best  English  classics  knew  its  wealth 
and  capacity,  and  how  richly  it  would  reward  any  who  studied 
it  diligently ;  what  more  important,  he  argued,  than  the 
thorough  knowledge  of  one's  own  language  to  those  who 
designed  following  in  their  native  country  the  various  pursuits 
of  livelihood.  His  own  experience  warranted  his  belief  that  in 
the  English  tongue  was  found  the  best  vehicles  for  conveying 
the  thoughts  of  man  to  his  fellows,  as  it  was  his  self  training  in 
its  uses  that  brought  to  him  that  unexcelled  employment  of  its 
words  and  terms  which  gave  to  all  his  writings  that  surprising 
force,  indeed  eloquence,  which  commanded  the  attention  of  his 
cotemporaries  and  affords  to  us  their  successors  such  delightful 
perusal. 

When  in  June,  1789,  he  wrote  his  Observations,  relative  to 
the  intentions  of  the  original  founders  of  the  Academy  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  looked  backward  those  forty  years  and  recited  how 
their  early  designs  were  to  make  the  English  School  of 
greater  prominence  in  this  general  plan.  His  paper,  well 
worthy  of  a  perusal  in  its  fullness,  is  a  history  of  this  branch  of 
the  institution  which  is  narrated  in  language  which  cannot  now 
be  equaled,  and  is  referred  to  at  this  point,  to  show  how  atten- 
tion was  early  sought  to  train  the  pupils  in  a  correct  use  of 
their  Mother  tongue  in  reading,  in  declamation,  and  by  various 
public  exercises.  When  Mr  Smith  assumed  his  duties  in  May, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        245 

1754,  he  found  the  existence  of  this  practical -system  with 
evidences  of  its  good  results,  and  with  his  own  knowledge  of 
oratory  he  gladly  carried  on  these  plans,  and  gave  to  them  his 
own  experience  and  culture ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  influences 
already  prevailed  which  placed  the  English  school  in  a  secondary 
position,  he  with  his  greater  taste  for  the  Ancient  Classics  but 
confirmed  and  established  more  effectually  these  influences 
which  were  in  later  years  the  subject  of  Franklin's  deprecations  ; 
and  there  no  longer  remained  those  public  exhibitions  of  display 
in  proficiency  in  English  which  the  pupils  under  Mr  Dove 
had  attained  to. 

These  tendencies  Franklin  termed  partialities.  But  let  us 
hear  his  own  statement : T 

The  first  instance  of  partiality,  in  favor  of  the  Latin  part  of  the 
institution,  was  in  giving  the  title  of  Rector  to  the  Latin  master,  and  no 
title  to  the  English  one.  But  the  most  striking  instance  *  *  *  was, 
when  the  votes  of  a  majority  carried  it  to  give  twice  as  much  salary  to  the 
Latin  Master  as  to  the  English,  and  yet  require  twice  as  much  duty  from 
the  English  master  as  from  the  Latin,  viz  :  .£200  to  the  Latin  master  to 
teach  twenty  boys  ;  ^100  to  the  English  master  to  teach  forty.  However, 
the  trustees  who  voted  these  salaries  being  themselves  by  far  the  great- 
est subscribers,  though  not  the  most  numerous,  it  was  thought  they 
had  a  kind  of  right  to  predominate  in  money  matters  ;  and  those  who  had 
wished  an  equal  regard  might  have  been  shown  to  both  schools,  sub- 
mitted, though  not  without  regret,  and  at  times  some  little  complaining, 
which,  with  their  not  being  able  in  some  months  to  find  a  proper  person 
for  English  master,  who  would  undertake  the  office  for  so  low  a  salary, 
induced  the  Trustees  at  length,  viz  :  in  July,  1750,  to  offer  ^50  more. 
Another  instance  of  the  partiality  above  mentioned,  was  in  the  March 
preceding,  when  ^100.  sterling  was  voted  to  buy  Latin  and  Greek  books, 
maps,  drafts,  and  instruments  for  the  use  of  the  Academy,  and  nothing 
for  the  English  books.  *  *  * 

The  Trustees  were  most  of  them  the  principal  gentlemen  of  the  pro- 
vince. Children  taught  in  other  schools  had  no  reason  to  expect  such 
powerful  patronage.  The  subscribers  had  placed  such  entire  confidence 
in  them  as  to  leave  themselves  no  power  of  changing  them,  if  their  con- 
duct of  the  plan  should  be  disapproved  ;  and  so,  in  hopes  of  the  best,  all 
these  partialities  were  submitted  to. 

Near  a  year  passed  before  a  proper  person  was  found  to  take  charge 

1  Sparks,  ii.  141. 


246        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  the  English  school.  At  length  Mr  Dove,  who  had  been  for  many  years 
master  of  a  school  in  England,  and  had  come  hither  with  an  apparatus  for 
giving  lectures  in  experimental  philosophy,  was  prevailed  with  by  me 
after  his  lectures  were  finished,  to  accept  that  employment  for  the 
salary  offered,  though  he  thought  it  too  scanty.  He  had  a  good  voice, 
read  perfectly  well,  with  proper  accent  and  just  pronunciation,  and 
his  method  of  communicating  habits  of  the  same  kind  to  his  pupils  was 
this  :  When  he  gave  a  lesson  to  one  of  them,  he  always  first  read  it  to 
him  aloud,  with  all  the  different  modulations  of  voice,  that  the  subject  and 
sense  required.  These  the  scholars,  in  studying  and  repeating  the  lessons, 
naturally  endeavored  to  imitate  ;  and  it  was  really  surprising  to  see  how 
soon  they  caught  his  manner,  which  convinced  me  and  others  who  fre- 
quently attended  his  school,  that,  though  bad  tones  and  manners  in  read- 
ing are,  when  once  acquired,  rarely,  with  difficulty,  if  ever  cured,  yet, 
when  none  have  been  already  formed,  good  ones  are  as  easily  learned  as 
bad.  In  a  few  weeks  after  opening  his  school,  the  trustees  were  invited  to 
hear  the  scholars  read  and  recite.  The  parents  and  relations  of  the  boys 
also  attended.  The  performances  were  surprisingly  good,  and  of  course 
were  admired  and  applauded  ;  and  the  English  school  thereby  acquired 
such  reputation,  that  the  number  of  Mr  Dove's  scholars  soon  amounted  to 
upwards  of  ninety,  which  number  did  not  diminish  as  long  as  he  continued 
master,  viz :  upwards  of  two  years  ;  but,  he  finding  the  salary  insufficient, 
and  having  set  up  a  school  for  girls  in  his  own  house  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciency, and  quitting  the  boys'  school  somewhat  before  the  hour  to  attend 
the  girls,  the  trustees  disapproved  of  his  so  doing,  and  he  quitted  their 
employment,  continued  his  girls'  school,  and  opened  one  for  boys  on  his 
own  account.  The  trustees  provided  another  English  master  ;  but  though 
a  good  man,  yet  not  possessing  the  talents  of  an  English  schoolmaster  in 
the  same  perfection  with  Mr  Dove,  the  school  diminished,  daily,  and  soon 
was  found  to  have  but  about  forty  scholars  left.  The  performances  of  the 
boys,  in  reading  and  speaking,  were  no  longer  so  brilliant  ;  the  trustees  of 
course  had  not  the  same  pleasure  in  hearing  them,  and  the  monthly  visita- 
tions, which  had  so  long  afforded  a  delightful  entertainment  to  large 
audiences,  became  less  and  less  attended,  and  at  length  discontinued  ; 
and  the  English  school  has  never  since  recovered  its  original  reputation. 
Thus  by  our  injudiciously  starving  the  English  part  of  our  scheme  of 
education,  we  only  saved  fifty  pounds  a  year,  which  was  required  as  an 
additional  salary  to  our  acknowledged  excellent  English  master,  which 
would  have  equalled  his  encouragement  to  that  of  the  Latin  master  ;  I  say, 
by  saving  the  ,£50.  we  lost  fifty  scholars,  which  would  have  been  ,£200.  a 
year,  and  defeated,  besides,  one  great  end  of  the  institution. 

The  Master  of  the  English  School,  Mr.    Kinnersley,   Mr. 
Dove's  successor,  we  have   seen   was   in  July   1755  made  Pro- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       247 

fessor  of  the  English  Tongue  and  Oratory;  but  his  want  of  suc- 
cess in  training  the  lads  discouraged  him  from  inciting  public 
exhibitions  of  their  progress;  and  as  Franklin  ere  long  began 
his  absences  from  Pennsylvania,  the  influence  of  the  "Latinists," 
as  he  calls  them,  may  have  chilled  any  encouragement  he  sought 
in  the  faculty  or  the  Trustees  for  the  fuller  development  of  his 
school.  On  Franklin's  return  home  from  his  first  mission,  in 
November,  1762,  he  found  this  change  in  the  English  School, 
and  at  the  meeting  of  8  February  1763,  we  find  this  Minute, 
doubtless  at  his  instance  : 

The  state  of  the  English  School  was  taken  into  consideration  and  it 
was  observed  that  Mr  Kinnersley's  Time  was  entirely  taken  up  in  teaching 
little  Boys  the  Elements  of  the  English  Language,2  and  that  speaking  and 
rehearsing  in  Publick  were  totally  disused  to  the  great  Prejudice  of  the 
other  Scholars  and  Students  and  contrary  to  the  original  Design  of  the 
Trustees  in  the  forming  of  that  school,  and  as  this  was  a  matter  of  great 
Importance  it  was  particularly  recommended  to  be  fully  considered  by  the 
Trustees  at  the  next  meeting. 

But  consideration  of  this  was  not  reached  until  the  meeting 
of  12  April,  at  which  only  Messrs.  Peters,  Coleman,  Duche, 
White,  Stedman  and  Redman  were  present,  when  the  following 
Minute  appears  : 

The  State  of  the  English  School  was  again  taken  into  Consideration, 
and  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  Trustees  that  the  original  Design  should  be 
prosecuted  of  teaching  the  Scholars  of  that  and  the  other  Schools  the 
Elegance  of  the 'English  Language,  and  giving  them  a  proper  pronunciation, 
and  that  the  old  Method  of  hearing  them  read  and  repeat  in  public  should 
be  again  used.  And  Mr.  Franklin,  Mr  Coleman,  Mr.  Coxe,  and  Mr 
Duche  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  confer  with  Mr  Kinnersley  how  this 
might  best  be  done  as  well  as  what  assistance  would  be  necessary  to  give 
Mr  Kinnersley  to  enable  him  to  attend  this  necessary  service,  which  was 
indeed  the  proper  Business  of  his  Professorship. 

Franklin's  zeal  and  influence  were  felt,  though  his  public 
duties  forbad  his  regular  attendance  at  the  Trustees'  meetings. 
In  April  he  left  for  Virginia  where  he  passed  three  or  four  weeks 
returning  to  Philadelphia  in  time  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the 


2  In  quoting  this  Minute  in  his  Observations  Franklin  here  inserts  in  parenthesis 
"(this  is  what  it  dwindled  into,  a  school  similar  to  those  kept  by  old  women,  who  teach 
children  their  letters)"  Sparks,  ii.  145. 


248        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Trustees  of  27  May,  1763,  made  notable  by  the  adoption  of  the 
addresses  to  the  King  and  to  Lord  Bute  to  be  transmitted  to 
the  Provost  then  in  England  for  due  presentation  as  expressive 
of  the  thanks  of  the  Trustees  to  "his  Majesty  for  his  Protec- 
tion, Countenance  and  Bounty  to  our  Institution "  and  "  to 
Lord  Bute  in  acknowledgment  of  his  goodness  to  us ;  "  and 
early  in  June  we  find  him  starting  on  a  trip  to  the  Eastern  States 
on  postoffice  service,  from  which  he  did  not  return  until  early  in 
November.  This  May  meeting  was  the  last  he  attended  of  the 
Trustees  that  year;  the  coming  winter  found  him  engrossed 
in  many  concerns ;  the  year  1 764  was  full  of  political  conten- 
tions, and  in  October  he  was  appointed  agent  for  the  Province 
in  England,  and  in  November  set  sail  from  Philadelphia  on  his 
second  mission.3  But  before  he  sailed  he  signed  on  the  Minute 
Book  the  fundamental  Resolve  or  Declaration  made  by  the 
Trustees  in  consequence  of  the  letter  brought  them  by  the 
Provost  on  his  return  from  England,  jointly  written  them  9  April, 
1 764  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Thomas  and  Richard 
Penn  and  Dr.  Samuel  Chandler,  and  entered  on  the  Minutes  of 
14  June  1764,  and  which  will  come  before  us  in  the  due  progress 
of  this  narrative.  At  the  meeting  of  13  June,  only  Messrs. 
Peters,  Coleman,  Redman,  Stedman,  and  Duche  present,  the 
following  minute  appears : 

Some  of  the  parents  of  the  children  in  the  Academy  having  complained 
that  their  children  were  not  taught  to  speak  and  read  in  publick  and  having 
requested  that  this  useful  part  of  Education  might  be  more  attended  to,  Mr 
Kinnersley  was  called  in  and  desired  to  give  an  account  of  what  was  done 
in  this  Branch  of  his  Duty,  and  he  declared  that  this  was  well  taught  not 
only  in  the  English  School  which  was  more  immediately  under  his  care, 
but  in  the  Philosophy  classes  regularly  every  Monday  afternoon,  and  as 
often  at  other  times  as  his  other  Business  would  permit.  And  it  not  appear- 
ing to  the  Trustees  that  any  more  could  at  present  be  done  without 
partiality  &  great  inconvenience  and  that  this  was  all  that  was  ever  proposed 
to  be  done  they  did  not  incline  to  make  any  alteration,  or  to  lay  any 
Burthen  upon  Mr  Kinnersley. 


s  and  "  reached  London  on  the  evening  of  10  December  and  went  immediately 
to  his  old  lodgings"     Sparks,  vii.  282. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        249 

Upon  this,  Franklin  says  in  his  Observations : 4 

That  the  English  School  had  not  for  some  years  preceding  been  visited 
by  the  Trustees.  If  it  had,  they  would  have  kncwn  the  state  of  it  without 
making  this  inquiry  of  the  Master.  They  might  have  judged,  whether  the 
children  more  immediately  under  his  care  were  in  truth  well  taught,  with- 
out taking  his  word  for  it,  as  it  appears  they  did.  But  it  seems  he  had  a 
merit,  which  when  he  pleaded  it,  effectually  excused  him.  He  spent  his 
time  when  out  of  the  English  School  in  instructing  the  philosophy  classes, 
who  were  of  the  Latin  part  of  the  institution.  Therefore  they  did  not 
think  proper  to  lay  any  further  burthen  upon  him.  *  *  *  Certainly 
the  method  that  had  been  used  might  be  again  used,  if  the  Trustees 
had  thought  fit  to  order  Mr.  Kinnersley  to  attend  his  own  school,  and  not 
spend  his  time  in  the  philosophy  classes,  where  his  duty  did  not  require 
his  attendance.  What  the  apprehended  partiality  was,  which  the  Minute 
mentions,  does  not  appear,  and  cannot  easily  be  imagined  ;  and  the  great 
inconvenience  of  obliging  him  to  attend  his  own  school  could  only  be 
depriving  the  Latinists  of  his  assistance,  to  which  they  had  no  right.  *  *  * 
The  parents,  indeed,  despairing  of  any  reformation,  withdrew  their  chil- 
dren, and  placed  them  in  private  schools,  of  which  several  now  appeared 
in  the  city,  professing  to  teach  what  had  been  promised  to  be  taught  in  the 
Academy  ;  and  they  have  since  flourished  and  increased  by  the  scholars 
the  Academy  might  have  had,  if  it  had  performed  its  engagements.  Yet 
the  public  was  not  satisfied  ;  and,  we  find  five  years  after,  the  English 
school  appearing  again,  after  five  years'  silence,  haunting  the  Trustees  like 
an  evil  conscience,  and  reminding  them  of  their  failure  in  duty. 

The  minutes  of  19  and  26  January,  1768,  revive  the  sub- 
ject, "  it  having  been  remarked,  that  the  schools  suffer  in  the 
public  esteem  by  the  discontinuance  of  public  speaking,"  but 
only  temporizing  measures  were  sought,  by 

agreeing  to  give  Mr.  Jon.  Easton  and  Mr.  Thomas  Hall,  at  the  rate  of 
twenty-five  pounds  per  annum  each,  for  assisting  Mr.  Kinnersley  in  the 
English  school,  and  taking  care  of  the  same  when  he  shall  be  employed  in 
teaching  the  students,  in  the  philosophy  classes  and  grammar  school,  the 
art  of  public  speaking.  [But]  Mr.  Easton  and  Mr.  Hall  are  to  be  paid  out 
of  a  fund  to  be  raised  by  some  public  performance  for  the  benefit  of  the 
College. 

Or  as  Franklin  says  : 

Care  was  however  taken  by  the  Trustees  not  to  be  at  any  expense  for  this 


>  4  Sparks,  ii.  148.  These  Observatious  Relative  to  the  Intentions  of  the  Origi- 
nal Founders  of  the  Academy  in  Philadelphia,  June,  1789  are  not  included  by  Mr. 
Bigelow  in  his  Complete  Works  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 


250        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

assistance  to  Mr.  Kinnersley  ;  for  Hall  and  Easton  were  only  to  be  paid 
out  of  the  uncertain  fund  of  money  to  be  raised  by  some  public  perform- 
ance for  the  benefit  of  the  College. 

The  year  following  the  Trustees  "  considered  whether  the 
English  school  is  to  be  longer  continued,"  and  at  a  special  meet- 
ing on  23  July,  Messrs.  Hamilton,  Willing,  Shippen,  Coxe,  Law- 
rence, Redman,  Peters  and  Inglis,  being  present,  were 

unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  as  the  said  School  is  far  from  defraying 
the  expense  at  which  they  now  support  it,  and  not  thinking  that  they  ought 
to  lay  out  any  great  part  of  the  Funds  entrusted  to  them  on  this  Branch  of 
Education  which  can  so  easily  be  procured  at  other  schools  in  this  city  [it 
was  voted]  that  from  and  after  the  iyth  of  October  next  Mr.  Kinnersley 's 
present  Salary  do  cease,  and  that  from  that  Time,  the  said  School,  if  he 
shall  be  inclined  to  keep  it,  shall  be  on  the  following  terms 

which  in  brief  were  that  he  could  continue  the  school  on  his 
own  financial  responsibility  he 

to  have  the  house  he  lives  in  rent  free,  in  consideration  of  his  giving 
two  afternoons  in  the  week  as  heretofore  for  the  instruction  of  the  students 
belonging  to  the  College  in  public  speaking. 

And  the  Trustees  expressed  the 

hope  this  Regulation  may  be  agreeable  to  Mr.  Kinnersley  as  it  proceeds 
entirely  from  the  Reasons  set  forth  above,  and  not  from  any  abatement  of 
that  esteem  which  they  have  always  retained  for  Him  during  the  whole 
course  of  his  services  in  College. 

But  it  soon  occurred  to  them  that  this  was  involving  the  exist- 
ence of  a  branch  of  the  institution  the  continuance  and  main- 
tenance of  which  they  stood  obligated  to  their  subscribers  and 
the  community,  for  at  the  meeting  following,  on  i  August  1769 
fifteen  of  the  Trustees  attending,  it  was  recorded, 

The  minute  of  last  meeting  relative  to  the  English  school  was  read, 
and  after  mature  deliberation  and  reconsidering  the  same,  it  was  voted  to 
stand  as  it  is,  provided  it  should  not  be  found  any  way  repugnant  to  the 
first  charter  granted  by  the  Assembly,  a  copy  of  which  was  ordered  to  be 
procured  out  of  the  rolls  office. 

The  repugnance  of  the  charter  to  this  proceeding  served 
to  keep  alive  in  its  feebleness  the  English  school  ;  but  the  knot 
was  cut  by  Mr.  Kinnersley's  resignation  in  October  1772,  who 
had  attained  his  three  score  years  but  in  impaired  health,  which 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        251 

led  him  to  seek  a  warmer  climate.  No  strenuous  effort  was 
employed  to  supply  his  place,  partly  from  lack  of  interest  and 
partly  from  placing  the  new  Salary  on  a  footing  which  would 
not  attract  any  experienced  teacher.  But  the  Trustees  at  their 
meeting  on  2  February  following,  record  this  minute  : 

The  College  suffers  greatly  since  Mr.  Kinnersley  left  it,  for  want  of 
a  person  to  teach  public  speaking,  so  that  the  present  classes  have  not 
those  opportunities  of  learning  to  declaim  and  speak  which  have  been  of 
so  much  use  to  their  predecessors,  and  have  contributed  greatly  to  raise 
the  credit  of  the  Institution. 

On  this   Franklin    briefly  remarks  in    his  Observations  of 
1789: 

Here  is  another  confession  that  the  Latinists  were  unequal  to  the  task 
of  teaching  English  eloquence,  though  on  occasion  the  contrary  is  still 
asserted .  [and  in  closing  he  says]  I  am  the  only  one  of  the  original  trustees 
now  living,  and  I  am  just  stepping  into  the  grave  myself.  I  am  afraid  that 
some  part  of  the  blame  incurred  by  the  Trustees  may  be  laid  on  me,  for 
having  too  easily  submitted  to  the  deviations  from  the  constitution,  and  not 
opposing  them  with  sufficient  zeal  and  earnestness  ;  though  indeed  my 
absence  in  foreign  countries  at  different  times  for  near  thirty  years,  tended 
much  to  weaken  my  influence.  *  *  *  I  seem  here  to  be  surrounded 
by  the  ghosts  of  my  dear  departed  friends,  beckoning  and  urging  me  to  use 
the  only  tongue  now  left  us,  in  demanding  that  justice  to  our  grandchildren, 
that  to  our  children  has  been  denied. 


252       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XXXV. 

However,  we  have  somewhat  anticipated  the  course  of 
events,  in  this  review  of  the  English  tuition  of  the  College  and 
Academy,  made  necessary  here  in  order  to  preserve  the  con- 
tinuity of  Franklin's  argument ;  and  we  recur  with  satisfaction 
to  the  Provost's  plan  or  scheme  of  education,  broad  and  liberal 
in  its  stretch,  which  claims  in  our  thoughts  a  preeminence  over 
any  cotemporary  curriculum  in  this  country  and  perhaps  in 
England.  He  divided  it  in  two  great  sections,  the  Latin  and 
Greek  Schools,  and  the  Philosophy  Schools  ;  the  first  embrac- 
ing all  tuition  in  those  ancient  Languages  in  their  structure  and 
their  uses,  and  the  other  building  on  this  foundation  and  making 
use  of  the  necessary  vehicle  of  language  to  pursue  the  study  of 
the  reason  of  things  employing  the  term  Philosophy  in  its 
generic  term — the  Love  of  Wisdom,  embracing  both  Natural 
and  Moral  Philosophy.  At  the  stage  when  the  word  Philosophy 
was  here  applied  to  district  schools  its  use  was  more  general 
than  it  has  now  come  to  be  used  in  this  generation,  and  modern 
curricula  use  it  to  denote  narrower  spheres.  Dr.  Johnson's  new 
Dictionary  had  now  appeared,  and  Peter  Collinson  1  the  good 
friend  and  agent  in  London  of  the  College  and  Academy  had 
in  October  1755  sent  out  to  its  Library  an  early  copy  of  this 
great  lexicographical  work,  then  just  published  ;  and  we  find  in 
it  Johnson's  definition  of  Philosophy  as  "  the  course  of  sciences 
read  in  the  schools,"  and  for  definition  of  the  word  sciences  he 
uses  the  pithy  quotation  from  Hooker,  "  any  art  or  species  of 
Knowledge."  This  was  much  broader  in  its  scope  than  anything 
yet  attempted  in  our  Colleges,  and  its  conception  was  bold  as  well 
as  novel ;  but  in  their  confidence  in  the  learning  and  in  the  in- 
genuity of  the  young  Provost,  the  Trustees  accepted  the  pro- 
gramme for  the  time,  soliciting  however  the  opinion  of  the 
learned  upon  it.  But  let  the  Provost  himself  explain  his  em- 


1  Mr  Collinson's  Invoice  shows : 

1755.1  May,  Blair's  Chronology          49,' 

1 8  July,  Martin's  Introduction  to  English  Tongue  2/ 
1 6  Sept,  Johnson's  Dictionary  2  vols  4-io/ 

v.  Treasurer's  Accounts. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       253 

ployment  of  the  term  Philosophy  as  applied  to  the  highest 
school,  as  we  find  it  in  his  Discourse  delivered  at  the  first  com- 
mencement, 17  May,  I/57-2 

A  person  who  knows  himself  endued  with  reason  and  under- 
standing, will  not  be  content  to  take  his  knowledge  entirely  at  sec- 
ond hand,  on  subjects  so  important  as  the  nature  and  fitness  of  things, 
and  the  Summum  Bonum  of  man  ;  he  will  not  care  to  rely  wholly 
on  a  Historical  Knowledge,  founded  on  the  Experience  and  Testimony 
of  others  ;  however  much  his  labors  may  be  shortened  thereby.  He 
will  think  it  his  duty  to  examine  for  himself,  and  to  acquire  a  Moral 
and  Physical  knowledge  ;  founded  on  his  own  Experience  and  Observa- 
tion. This  is  what  we  call  Philosophy  in  general  ;  comprehending  in  it 
the  knowledge  of  all  things  Human  and  Divine,  so  far  as  they  can  be  made 
the  objects  of  our  present  inquiries.  Now  the  genuine  branches  of  this 
Philosophy  or  great  system  of  Practical  Wisdom,  together  with  the  neces- 
sary- instrumental  parts  thereof,  may  be  included  under  the  following 
general  heads  ;  it  appearing  to  me  that  the  nature  of  things  admits  of  no 
more: 

1.  LANGUAGES,   which  have  been  already  mentioned  rather   as  an 
Instrument  or  Means  of  Science,  than  a  Branch  thereof. 

2.  LOGIC  and   Metaphysics,  or  the  Science  of   the  Human  Mind  ; 
unfolding  its  powers  and  directing  its  operations  and  reasonings . 

3.  NATURAL  Philosophy,  Mathematics,  and  the  rest  of  her  beautiful 
train  of  subservient  arts,  investigating  the   Physical  properties   of   Body  ; 
explaining  the  various  phenomena  of  Nature  ;  and  teaching  us  to  render 
her  subservient  to  the  ease  and  ornament  of  Life. 

4.  MORAL  Philosophy  ;  applying  all  the  above  to  the  business  and 
bosoms  of  men  ;  deducing  the  laws  of  our  conduct  from  our  situation  in  life 
and  connexions  with  the  Beings  around  us  ;  settling  the  whole  (Economy 
of  the  Will  and  Affections  ;  establishing  the  predominancy  of  Reason  and 
Conscience,  and  guiding  us  to  Happiness  thro'  the  practice  of  Virtue. 

5.  RHETORIC,  or  the  art  of  masterly  Composition  ;   just  Elocution, 
and  sound  Criticism  :  teaching  us  how  to  elevate  our  wisdom  in  the  most 
amiable  and  inviting  garb  ;    how  to  give  life  and   spirit  to  our  Ideas,  and 
make  our  knowledge  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  ourselves  and  others  ;  and 
lastly,  how  to  enjoy  those  pure  intellectual  pleasures,  resulting  from  a  just 
taste  for  polite  letters,  and  a  true  relish   for  the  sprightly  Wit,   the  rich 
Fancy,  the  noble  Pathos,  and  the  marvelous  Sublime,  shining  forth  in  the 
works  of  the  most  celebrated  Poets,  Philosophers,  Historians  and  Orators, 
with  beauties  ever  pleasing,  ever  new.     *     *     * 

Thus  I  have   given    a  sketch  of   the   Capital   branches   of    Human 


3  Discourses,     ed  1759,  p  142. 


254        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Science  ;  and  all  of  them  are  professed  and  taught  in  this  Institution. 
But  there  is  yet  one  Science  behind  necessary  to  compleat  all  the  rest,  and 
without  which  they  will  be  found  at  best  but  very  defective  and  unsatis- 
factory. 'Tis  the  Science  of  Christianity  and  the  Great  Mystery  of  Godli- 
ness ;  that  Sublimest  Philosophy,  into  which  even  the  angels  themselves 
desire  to  be  further  initiated. 

A  new  departure  in  higher  education  Mr.  Smith  felt  was 
needed  in  the  colonies.  Up  to  this  time,  the  aim  of  our  earlier 
colleges  had  been  primarily  to  prepare  young  men  for  the 
ministry.  The  conditions  attendant  upon  the  organization  and 
the  circumstances  surrounding  its  progress  forbad  this  to  the 
new  Philadelphia  institution,  however  much  Mr.  Smith  may 
have  thought  of  it,  of  which  however  their  appears  no  evidence.3 
While  tutoring  in  Long  Island  he  must  have  had  knowledge  of 
the  curriculum  at  Yale,  and  he  may  have  visited  New  Haven  ; 
his  acquaintance  with  its  distinguished  alumnus  Samuel  Johnson 
possibly  ensured  this.  The  chief  thought  here,  as  it  was  in  like 
manner  at  Harvard  College,  seemed  to  be  to  fit  the  pupils  to 
assume  the  clerical  profession  ;  the  President  and  Fellows,  or 
Tutors,  for  it  was  not  until  1755,  that  the  term  Professor  was 
known  at  Yale  and  that  was  upon  the  appointment  of  Dr. 
Daggett  as  Professor  of  Theology,  were  mostly  clergymen, 
whose  professional  sympathies  would  lead  to  such  a  training  ; 
and  while  the  curriculum  might  of  itself  not  bear  such  bias,  those 
who  administered  it  would  perhaps  insensibly  give  to  it  a  theologi- 
cal discipline.  But  it  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  admitted  that  Yale 
"was  a  seminary  which  was  intended  for  the  training  of  min- 
isters as  much  as  for  any  purpose  ;  "  4  and  it  was  on  this  ground 
that  the  head  of  the  College,  Rev.  Timothy  Cutler,  "  was  ex- 
cused from  all  further  service  as  Rector,"  when  he  led  off  in 

3  It  is  doubtless  true,  that  the  studies  of  the  English  universities,  from  which 
the  American  Colleges  are  historically  derived,  were  originally  arranged  with  special 
reference  to  the  clerical  profession,  and  that  to  this  day  some  of  the  peculiarities  thus 
induced  >have  not  been  entirely  outgrown.     The  first  American  Colleges  were  also 
primarily  founded  as  training  schools  for  the  clergy,  but  as  the  other  professions  came 
to  require  a  liberal  culture,  this  special  reference  to   the  clerical  profession  was  laid 
aside.     President  Porter,  American   Colleges  and  the  Ametican  Public,  p.  93.     And 
President  Clap  of  Yale  said  in  1754  "the  original  End  and  design  of  Colleges  was  to 
instruct  and  train  up  persons  for  the  work  of  the  ministry     *     *  The  great 
design  of  founding  this  school  was  to  educate  ministers  in  our  own  way." 

4  President  Woolsey  in  Kingsley's  Yale  College  i.  53~54- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       255 

the  great  Episcopal  movement  in  1722,  which  involved  also  other 
sons  of  Yale,  including  Dr.  Johnson,  the  Trustees  voting  this 
"  in  faithfulness  to  the  trust  reposed  in  them  ;  "  and  this  action 
was  recognized  by  its  subjects  as  legitimate  and  quite  proper, 
and  so  far  from  hard  feelings  being  engendered  by  it  those  who 
left  and  those  who  staid  still  remained  friends,  and  the  former 
honored  their  Alma  Mater  equally  with  the  latter.  As  the 
Philadelphia  institution  began  at  a  day  and  in  a  province 
where  clerical  influence  was  not  foremost  in  the  control 
and  where  church  and  state  were  absolutely  separate 
from  tuition,  the  way  was  open  for  Provost  Smith,  who 
had  not  yet  attained  his  thirtieth  year,  to  propound  a  scheme 
free  of  early  colonial  traditions  and  build  anew  a  richer  and  a 
broader  curriculum,  and  offer  it  to  parents  for  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  their  sons.  Had  he  begun  his  College  work  on  the  Yale 
plan,  he  would  have  been  without  originality  and  its  influence 
would  have  been  purely  local ;  a  new  departure  was  called  for, 
and  his  was  the  genius  and  courage  to  attempt  it.  In  the 
success  of  this  scheme,  Provost  Smith  found  his  highest  gratifi- 
cation ;  and  as  his  pupils  took  their  places  in  the  world 
thoroughly  trained  mentally  for  their  various  calls,  it  is  quite 
easy  to  recognize  how  the  ancient  languages  gradually  took  pre- 
cedence of  the  English,  not  it  may  be  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
latter,  but  sufficiently  to  the  extent  that  the  pupil's  mind  appre- 
hended less  the  value  and  importance  of  his  own  tongue  than 
he  might  have  done  had  the  views  of  the  Founders  prevailed. 
But  so  far  as  his  influence  may  have  extended  in  this,  the 
educated  community  generally  was  equally  with  him  in  greater 
sympathy  with  the  pursuit  of  the  classics  of  the  ancients  than 
with  those  of  the  mother  country. 

The  establishment  of  the  first  Professorship  in  Yale,  in 
17SS>  that  of  Theology,  appeared  to  remove  this  from  a  general 
to  a  special  study,  and  marked  a  new  era  in  the  spirit  of  the 
generally  accepted  curriculum.5  And  the  same  thought  of  making 

5 Professor    Fisher,   Yale   College,    ii.    17.     "Both    Harvard   and    Yale    were 
modeled  in  general  after  the  English  Colleges ;   Yale  having  before  it,  also,  the  exam" 
pie  of  its  older  sister.     It  is  only  necessary  to  look  at  the  course  of  study  at  Harvard 
in  the  early  days  to  see  that  theology  was   a  prominent  and  even  a  principal  study. 
Ibid.,  ii.  15. 


256       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 

a  new  departure  prevailed  alike  with  Dr.  Johnson  in  New  York 
and  Mr.  Smith  in  Philadelphia,  though  with  the  former  there 
prevailed  in  his  Advertisement  of  June,  1754,  elsewhere  referred 
to,  some  sympathy  with  the  old  course  of  his  Alma  Mater,  when 
he  said : 

The  chief  Thing  that  is  aimed  at  in  this  College  is,  to  teach  and 
engage  the  children  to  know  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  love  and  serve 
him,  in  all  Sobriety,  Godliness,  and  Righteousness  of  Life,  with  a  perfect 
Heart  and  a  willing  Mind. 

But  let  us  see  what  Yale's  curriculum  was  at  this  period, 
and  President  Woolsey's  words  can  give  the  story  :6 

The  Latin  law  of  1748,  of  which  also  an  English  original,  under  date 
of  1745,  is  extant  in  manuscript,  prescribes  that  in  the  first  year  the  students 
shall  principally  study  the  tongues  and  logic,  and  shall  in  some  measure 
pursue  the  study  of  the  tongues  the  next  two  years.  In  the  second  year 
they  shall  recite  rhetoric,  geometry,  and  geography.  In  the  third  year, 
natural  philosophy,  astronomy,  and  other  parts  of  mathematics.  In  the 
fourth  year  metaphysics  and  ethics.  Every  Saturday  shall  especially  be 
devoted  to  the  study  of  divinity,  and  the  classes,  through  the  whole  of 
their  college  life,  shall  recite  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  received 
and  approved  by  the  churches  of  this  colony,  Wollebius's  or  Ames's 
Medulla,  or  any  other  system  of  divinity  by  direction  of  the  President  and 
Fellows.  And  on  Friday,  each  student  in  his  order,  about  six  at  a  time, 
shall  declaim  in  the  hall,  in  Latin,  Greek  or  Hebrew,  and  in  no  other 
language  without  special  leave;  and  the  two  Senior  Classes  shall  dispute 
twice  a  week. 

In  Dr.  Johnson's  pupilage,7 

common  arithmetic  and  a  little  surveying  were  all  the  mathematics  studied; 
but  he,  as  a  tutor,  introduced  more  mathematics  for  the  understanding  of 
the  Newtonian  system.  Geometry  was  studied  not  long  afterward.  In  a 
letter  of  Jonathan  Edwards  to  his  father  (written  probably  at  the  beginning 
of  his  Senior  year,  1720),  he  says  that  the  Rector  advised  him  to  get 
Alsted's  Geometry  and  Gassendus's  Astronomy  for  the  purposes  of  study. 
At  a  later  period,  I  know  not  when,  except  that  it  is  likely  to  have  been 
under  President  Clap,  the  mathematics  of  Ward  (President  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  and  Bishop  of  Exeter)  were  introduced.8 

Let  us  advance  a  decade  and  note  yet  further  enlargement 


6  Yale  College,  ii.  497.  7Ibid.,ii.  499.  8Ibid.,  ii.  497. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        257 

of  the  studies,  but  not  yet  up  to  the  point  set  by  the  Philadel- 
phia Provost : 

President  Clap,  in  his  history,  written  in  1766,  gives  an  account  of 
the  studies,  which  shows  that,  during  his  term  of  office  considerable  pro- 
gress had  been  made  in  the  mathematical  branches.  In  the  first  year,  he 
says,  they  learn  Hebrew,  and  principally  pursue  the  study  of  the  languages, 
and  make  a  beginning  in  logic  and  some  parts  of  mathematics.  In  the 
second  year  they  study  the  languages,  but  principally  recite  logic,  rhetoric, 
oratory,  geography,  and  natural  philosophy,  and  some  of  them  make  good 
progress  in  trigonometry  and  algebra.  In  the  third  year  they  still  pursue 
the  study  of  natural  philosophy  and  most  branches  of  mathematics.  Many 
of  them  well  understand  surveying,  navigation,  and  the  calculation  of 
eclipses;  and  some  of  them  are  considerable  proficients  in  conic  sections 
and  fluxions.  In  the  fourth  year  they  principally  study  and  recite  meta- 
physics and  divinity.  The  two  upper  classes  exercise  their  powers  in  dis- 
puting every  Monday  in  the  syllogistic  form  and  every  Tuesday  in  the 
forensic . 

And  proceeding  a  few  years  later  we  note  yet  further 
advances  : 

There  is,  in  President  Stiles'  Diary  for  November  9,  1779,  a  list  of 
' '  books  recited  in  the  several  classes  at  [his]  accession  to  the  presidency," 
which  we  will  here  insert  :9 

Freshman  Class. — Virgilius,  Ciceronis  Orationes,  Graec.  Test, 
Ward's  Arithmetic. 

Sophimore  (sic)  Class. — Graecum  Testament.,  Horatius,  Lowth's 
English  Grammar,  Watts'  Logic,  Guthrie's  Geography,  Hammond's  Alge- 
bra, Holmer's  Rhetorick,  Ward's  Geometry,  Vincent's  Catechism  [Satur- 
day], Ward's  Mathematics. 

Junior  Class. — Ward's  Trigonometry,  Atkinson  and  Wilson  ditto, 
Graec.  Test,  Cicero  de  Oratore,  Martin's  Philosophic  Grammar  and  Phi- 
losophy, 3  vols.,  Vincent,  [Saturday]. 

Senior  Class. — Locke,  Human  Understanding,  Wollaston,  Relig.  of 
Nature  Delineated,  and  for  [Saturday],  Wollebius,  Amesii  Medulla, 
Graec.  Test,  (or  Edwards  on  the  Will,  sometime  discontinued),  President 
Clap's  Ethics. 

President  Woolsey  further  tells  us  : lo 

For  the  classical  tongues  the  examinations  embraced  at  first,  and  for 
many  years,  a  part  of  Virgil,  a  part  of  Cicero's  select  orations,  and  in 
Greek  the  four  Evangelists.  The  course  in  College  went  very  little  further 


Yale  College,  ii.  498.  10  Ibid.,  ii.  500. 


258       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

than  to  complete  these  Latin  authors  and  the  New  Testament.  I  do  not 
think  that  even  Homer  was  studied  except  by  the  candidates  for  the  Berke- 
lian  scholarship,  until  the  earliest  years  of  the  present  century,  when  the 
late  Professor  Kingsley  and  Professor  Moses  Stuart,  being  tutors,  used  it  in 
their  classes.  *  *  *  *  Latin,  at  the  first,  was  both  spoken  and 
written  with  ease,  and  the  daily  practice  in  disputation  and  even  in  con- 
versation was  such  that  the  students  would  put  to  shame  in  this  respect 
those  of  the  present  day.  But  I  fear  that  correctness  of  style  was  not 
reached,  much  less  was  elegance. 

Even  Mr.  Smith's  "•  Latin  and  Greek  Schools"  were  many 
years  in  advance  of  all  this ;  but  when  to  these  his  Philosophy 
Schools  were  added  we  find  the  College  and  Academy  of  Phila- 
delphia a  half  century  in  the  advance  of  imparting  a  thoroughly 
liberal  education  to  the  increasing  American  generations. 

As  Yale  grew  out  of  Harvard,  it  followed  that  the  curriculum 
was  on  the  same  pattern  as  the  latter.  New  England  did  not 
require  another  College,  but  church  government  and  alleged 
differences  in  orthodoxy  were  the  reasons  for  the  former's  exist- 
ence as  early  as  1647-;"  but  a  decade  after  the  origin  of  Har- 
vard, the  people  of  New  Haven  "undertook  the  enterprise  of 
establishing  a  College  in  that  colony  but  postponed  it  in  deference 
to  the  interests  of  Cambridge."  However  in  1700  the  matter 
was  consummated,  and  Abraham  Pierson,  a  graduate  of  Har- 
vard of  1668,  became  the  first  Rector  of  the  Saybrook  Academy 
which  in  a  few  years,  when  removed  to  New  Haven,  was  entitled 
Yale  College  in  honor  of  Governor  Yale,  its  illustrious  bene- 
factor. 

Mr.  Palfrey,  writing  of  Harvard  College,  tells  us  : 

The  course  of  study,  adopted  from  the  contemporaneous  practice  of 
the  English  Universities,  consisted  of  Latin  and  Greek  (in  which  some 
proficiency  was  required  for  admission)  ;  of  logic,  arithmetic,  geometry, 
and  physics  ;  and  of  Hebrew,  Chaldee  Syriac,  and  Divinity, — the  forming 
of  a  learned  ministry  being  a  main  object  of  the  institution.  [Under  the 
Rev,  Henry  Dunster,  the  second  president],  the  College  soon  acquired  so 
high  a  reputation,  that  in  several  instances  youth  of  opulent  families  in  the 
parent  country  were  sent  over  to  receive  their  education  in  New  England.  12 


11  Duyckinck,  i.  85. 

12  Palfrey's  History  of  New  England,  ii.  48,  49. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        259 

[But  this  may  doubtless  have  been  largely  owing  to  the  religious  tests  of 
the  English  Universities.] 

During  Pierson's  pupilage  at  Harvard,  President  Quincy 
tells  us  :13 

To  the  general  student,  and  such  as  were  not  destined  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  the  exercises  of  the  College  must  have  been  irksome,  and,  in 
their  estimation,  unprofitable.  The  reading  every  morning  a  portion  of 
the  Old  Testament  out  of  Hebrew  into  Greek,  and  every  afternoon  a  por- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  out  of  English  into  Greek,  however  it  might 
improve  their  knowledge  of  those  languages  respectively,  could  not  greatly 
accelerate  or  enlarge  their  acquaintance  with  Scripture,  or  tend  vividly  to 
excite  their  piety.  The  exposition,  required  by  the  laws  of  the  College  to 
be  made  by  the  President,  of  the  chapters  read  at  the  morning  and  evening 
services,  although  greatly  lauded  for  its  utility,  and  made  the  repeated 
subject  of  inquiry  by  active  members  of  the  Board  of  Overseers,  seems 
not  to  have  been  of  any  material  efficiency  in  point  of  instruction.  *  *  * 
"To  speak  true  Latin,  both  in  prose  and  verse,"  was  made  an  essential 
requisite  for  admission.  Among  the  laws  and  liberties  of  the  College  was 
the  following  :  "  The  scholars  shall  never  use  their  mother  tongue,  except 
that,  in  public  exercises  of  oratory  or  such  like,  they  be  called  to  make 
them  in  English.  *  *  *  Scholares  vernacula  lingua,  intra  Collegii 
limites  nullo  pretextu  intentur." 

The  flavor  of  this  training  Rector  Pierson  must  have  main- 
tained during  the  few  years  of  his  life  spared  to  the  Connecticut 
College.  The  administration  of  President  Holyoke,  at  Harvard, 
beginning  in  I/37,14 

was  distinguished  by  a  series  of  persevering  and  well  directed  endeavors 
to  elevate  the  standard  of  harmony  in  Harvard  College.  *  *  *  But 
the  customs  and  rules  of  the  College  tardily  yielded  to  the  influences  of  the 
period  ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
that  effectual  improvements  were  introduced.  *  *  *  The  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Overseers  with  the  state  of  elocution  among  the 
undergraduates,  and  with  the  standard  of  classical  attainments  in  the  Col- 
lege, was  the  origin  of  the  present  literary  exhibitions,  which  were  at  first 
only  semi-annual.  In  October,  1754,  a  committee  was  raised  in  that 
board  "  to  project  some  new  method  to  promote  oratory."  *  *  *  The 
same  Committee15  had  reported  in  April,  1755,  tnat  l^e  fourth  part  of  the 
yearly  income  of  the  Hollis  donation,  and  the  whole  of  the  yearly  income 


13  History  of  Harvard  University,     Quincy,  i.   193. 
"Quincy,  ii.  123.  15  Ibid.,  ii.  125. 


260        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  other  splendid  donations,  should  be  applied  to  encourage  the  study  of 
the  languages,  by  equally  dividing  the  amount  between  any  three  of  the 
Junior  Sophister  class,  two  of  whom  should  appear  most  expert  in  the 
Latin  and  the  Greek,  and  the  third  in  the  Hebrew  language  ;  and  the  other 
incomes  of  Mr.  Hollis  to  be  divided  equally  between  nine  other  Junior 
Sophisters,  who  should  most  excel  in  the  knowledge  of  said  languages,  the 
said  scholars  to  be  all  of  good  morals.  *  *  *  By  other  action  the 
Corporation  *  *  *  voted  that  the  exercises  of  the  Freshmen  and 
Sophomores,  with  their  respective  Tutors,  on  Friday  morning  (except 
when  they  declaim)  "be  to  read  some  celebrated  orations,  speeches,  or 
dialogues  in  Latin  or  English,  whereby  they  may  be  directed  and  assisted 
in  their  elocution  or  pronunciation  ;  that  the  Tutors  attend  the  declama- 
tions in  the  Chapel  on  Friday  morning,  and  that  once  a  month  the  two 
senior  classes  have  their  disputations  in  English,  in  the  forensic  manner, 
without  being  confined  to  syllogisms  ;  that  the  number  of  opponents  and 
respondents  be  equal  and  that  they  speak  alternately  ;  the  questions  to  be 
given  out  by  the  Tutors  at  least  a  fortnight  beforehand."  [But  President 
Quincy  adds]  notwithstanding  the  unanimity  with  which  these  principles 
were  adopted,  it  was  found  difficult  to  introduce  a  practice  so  little  in 
unison  with  the  private  recitations,  syllogistic  forms,  and  solemn  exercises 
of  ancient  times. 16 

It  was  not  however  until  President  Willard's  administration, 
namely  in  1787  after  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  that  we  trace 
some  significant  changes  in  the  books  of  instruction,  recreating 
the  curriculum,  but  not  up  to  the  standard  of  that  of  Philadel- 
phia of  1756  : 

Horace,  "Sallust,  Cicero  de  Oratore,  Homer,  and  Xenophon  were  substi- 
uted  for  Virgil,  Cicero's  orations,  Caesar,  and  the  Greek  Testament.  The  num- 
ber of  exercises  was  increased,  and  the  instructors  were  enjoined  to  ascertain 
that  they  were  learned  by  the  whole  class.  These  classics  formed  the  prin- 
cipal studies  of  the  first  three  College  years.  The  Freshmen  were  instructed, 
also,  in  rhetoric,  the  art  of  speaking,  and  arithmetic  ;  the  Sophomores  in 
algebra,  and  other  branches  of  mathematics  ;  the  Juniors  in  Livy,  Dod- 
dridge's  Lectures,  and,  once  a  week,  the  Greek  Testament  ;  the  Seniors  in 
logic,  metaphysics,  and  ethics.  The  Freshmen  and  Sophomores  were 
required  to  study  Hebrew,  or  French,  as  a  substitute.  Through  the  College 
course  all  the  classes  were  instructed  in  declamation,  chronology  and 
history.  In  1788  Blair's  Lectures  on  Rhetoric  was  introduced  as  a  text 
book. 

16  Quincy,  ii.  127.  n  Ibid.,  ii.  279. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        261 

But  within  fifteen  years  from  this  time,  Harvard  had  still 
further  advanced  her  standard  : l8 

In  1803,  the  former  conditions  of  admission  were  repealed,  and  a 
strict  examination  in  Dalzel's  Collectanea  Graeca  Minora,  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament, Virgil,  Sallust,  and  Cicero's  Select  Orations  ;  a  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Greek  and  Latin  grammars,  including  prosody  ;  also,  an 
ability  to  translate  those  languages  correctly,  and  a  knowledge  of  geography 
and  arithmetic  to  the  rule  of  three,  was  substituted. 

Of  the  curriculum  at  William  and  Mary  College,  Virginia, 
at  the  period  of  the  publication  of  Provost  Smith's  Plan,  we  have 
no  certain  knowledge.  The  visitations  of  fire  to  its  buildings 
had  caused  the  destruction  of  most  of  its  valuable  records.  The 
origin  of  this  venerable  institution  was  even  more  decidedly  of  a 
theological  intention  than  Harvard  or  Yale,  and  was 

to  the  end  that  the  church  of  Virginia  may  be  furnished  with  a  seminary 
of  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  the  youth  may  be  piously  educated  in 
good  letters  and  manners,  and  that  the  Christian  faith  may  be  propagated 
amongst  the  Western  Indians  to  the  glory  of  Almighty  God. 

The  Rev.  James  Blair,  afterwards  Commissary  of  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  Virginia,  was  sent  to  England  by  the  Colonial  Assem- 
bly in  1691  to  solicit  a  charter  from  the  Crown,  which  was 
granted  on  8  February,  1693,  William  and  Mary  giving  out  of 
the  quit  rents  two  thousand  pounds  towards  the  building. 
When  he  was  charged  to  convey  to  Seymour,  the  Attorney 
General,  the  royal  commands  to  issue  the  charter,  Seymour 
remonstrated  against  this  liberality,  upon  the  ground  that  the 
nation  was  engaged  in  an  expensive  war ;  that  the  money  was 
wanted  for  better  purposes,  and  that  he  did  not  see  the  slightest 
occasion  for  a  College  in  Virginia.  Mr  Blair  begged  the  Attorney 
would  consider  "  that  its  intention  was  to  educate  and  qualify 
young  men  to  be  ministers  of  the  gospel,  much  wanted  there; 
that  the  people  of  Virginia  had  souls  to  be  saved  as  well  as  the 
people  of  England."  "  Souls,"  exclaimed  Seymour,  "  damn 
your  souls;  make  tobacco!"19  Commissary  Blair,  a  native  of 

18Quincy,  ii.  280. 

19  This  is  related  by  Franklin  to  Messrs  Weems  and  Gant,  two  candidates  then 
in  London  seeking  his  counsel  as  to  obtaining  orders,  in  his  letter  from  Passy,  18 
July,  1784.  Bigelow,  ix.,  10. 


262       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Scotland  as  was  William  Smith,  had  come  as  a  Missionary  of 
the  Church  of  England  to  Virginia  in  1685.  He  was  nominated 
the  first  President  of  the  College  and  so  continued  the  half  cen- 
tury until  his  death  in  1743.  We  are  told  that, 

before  the  Revolution,  the  College  consisted  of  a  school  of  Divinity,  one  of 
Philosophy,  in  which  Natural  Philosophy  and  Mathematics  were  taught,  a 
Grammar  School  for  instruction  in  the  Ancient  Languages,  and  an  Indian 
school  supported  by  the  donation  of  the  Hon  Robert  Boyle,  in  which,  from 
about  the  year  1700  to  1776,  eight  to  ten  Indians  were  annually  maintained 
and  educated.2" 

In  this  Christian  and  generous  thought  and  action  for  the 
aborigines,  the  College  of  William  and  Mary  was  far  in  advance 
of  its  cotemporaries.  Franklin  visited  the  College  in  April 
1756: 

This  day,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Esquire,  favored  the  Society  with  his 
company  and  had  the  degree  of  A.  M.  conferred  upon  him.21 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  then  in  one  of  the  younger  classes, 
graduating  in  1759.  Twenty  years  later,  the  Master  and  the 
undergraduate  were  united  on  a  Committee  to  draft  a  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  from  the  Mother  country  which  came  forth 
from  their  deliberations  in  the  immortal  words  of  the  younger 
of  the  two. 

In  1771,  there  graduated  James  Madison,  afterwards  the 
first  Bishop  of  Virginia,  who  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  in 
1785  from  the  University  in  Philadelphia;  who  within  three 
years  of  his  graduation  was  made  Professor  of  Natural  Philoso- 
phy and  Chemistry,  and  within  six  years  became  the  President 
of  the  College,  both  of  which  stations  through  the  remainder  of 
his  life  to  1812  he  filled  with  zeal  and  ability,  and  to  which  after 
his  consecration  in  1790  were  added  the  duties  of  his  Episcopate. 


20  Historical  Sketch,  p.  40.     Archdeacon  Burnaby  visited  William  and  Mary 
College  in  September,  1759,  and  referring  to  the  Indian  School  says,  "this  pious 
institution  was  set  on  foot  and  promoted  by  the  excellent  Mr.  Boyle.     *     *     *     At 
present  the  only  Indian  children  in  Mr.  Boyle's  school  are  five  or  six  of  the  Pamunky 
tribe,  who,  being  surrounded  by  and  living  in  the  midst  of  our  settlements,  are  more 
accustomed  to  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  English  Colonists.     *     *     *     The 
business  of  the  Professor  of  the  Indian  School  is  to  instruct  the  Indians  in  reading, 
writing,  and  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion."     7ravc/s,  London,  1798,  p.  24. 

21  Ibid.,  42. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        263 

Provost  Smith's  Biographer  tells  us  that  Rev  Mr  Madison  intro- 
duced the  curriculum  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  and  College 
of  I756,22  and  adopted  it  on  his  accession  to  the  Presidency,  in 
the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  from  which  we  may  learn 
that  the  course  previously  pursued  was  a  less  liberal  one  and 
savored  more  of  the  courses  which  we  have  found  to  have  pre- 
vailed in  the  New  England  Colleges  prior  to  the  Revolution. 
Franklin  may  not  after  his  visit  of  1756  have  again  been  in 
Virginia,  but  his  interest  was  awakened  in  this  then  venerable 
institution  of  learning  on  the  banks  of  the  James  River,  and 
was  sealed  by  his  acceptance  of  a  degree  of  honor  it  conferred 
upon  him.  On  his  return  from  that  visit  he  found  that  the 
Trustees  had  approved  of  Mr  Smith's  "  Scheme  of  liberal  educa- 
tion," and  may  have  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  his  friends  at  Williams- 
burg  as  its  eminent  faculty  contained,  "Persons  of  Learning  and 
Experience,  in  order  to  obtain  their  sentiments  upon  it."  The 
seeds  were  sown,  and  when  young  Madison  became  the  head 
of  the  College,  at  about  the  same  age  Smith  had  become  Pro- 
vost, he  was  ready  and  able  to  carry  into  practice  a  new  depar- 
ture in  the  College  form  of  studies,  which  otherwise  might  have 
remained  unchanged  in  the  main  since  good  Commissary  Blair 
had  established  them  four  score  of  years  before.  The  vigor  of 
youth  found  its  way  to  the  front  then  when  possessed  by  men 
of  courage  and  cultivation  as  it  does  to  day,  though  we  are  apt 
to  assume  that  only  in  these  times  does  the  opportunity  present 
itself  to  the  young  man  to  become  a  leader.  Well  may  it  be  if 
the  young  man  of  the  present  will  always  find  himself  as  well 
fitted  for  his  opportunity  as  did  Smith  and  Madison.23 

Of  the  curriculum  in  the  English  Universities  we  gather  the 
best  account,  not  from  English  sources,  but  from  a  German 
authority,  V.  A.  Huber,  whose  studies  of  the  subject  in  The 


"Smith,  i.  124. 

25  Mr.  Sydney  G.  Fisher,  in  his  recent  interesting  publication,  entitled  Church 
Colleges;  their  History,  Position  and  Importance,  Philadelphia,  1895,5375:  "  Before 
the  Revolution,  William  and  Mary  and  the  College  of  Philadelphia  were  the  leading 
seats  of  learning  in  the  colonies.  The  fame  of  Harvard  and  Yale  is  of  a  later  date. 
The  Philadelphia  College  was  a  little  larger  than  William  and  Mary,  and  had  a  wider 
curriculum  embracing  more  topics ;  but  was  inferior  to  William  and  Mary  in  the 
quality  of  its  training  and  in  producing  remarkable  men."  p.  25. 


264        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

English  Universities,  translated  by  Francis  W.  Newman,  make 
of  the  subject  one  of  the  most  interesting  studies  in  English  life. 
He  says  of  their  course  in  the  eighteenth  century : 

The  average  scientific  result  of  the  seven  years  course  [academic  and 
collegiate]  may  be  judged  of,  by  considering  what  was  required  by  the 
Colleges  (not  by  the  University)  for  the  attainment  of  the  Bachelorship  in 
Arts,  The  candidate  was  to  be  well  founded  in  Latin,  and  to  have  a 
moderate  acquaintance  with  Greek,  a  certain  facility  in  speaking  or  writing 
Latin,  and  a  knowledge  rather  general  and  elegant,  than  fundamental,  of 
the  commonest  Classics,  connected  more  with  an  ability  to  quote  passages, 
than  aught  else — a  rather  piecemeal  acquaintance  with  archaeological  and 
historical  matters,  serviceable  for  commenting  on  the  separate  authors. 
Mathematical  information,  slight  enough  at  Oxford,  but  comprising  in 
Cambridge  the  higher  branches  of  Mathematics,  Physics,  and  a  foretaste  of 
Astronomy  with  the  general  Philosophical  cultivation  which  may  be  gath- 
ered from  a  very  moderate  acquaintance  with  the  more  important  works  of 
Bacon  and  Locke.  Whatever  was  done  beyond,  either  in  the  Arts  or  in 
the  Faculties,  was  a  work  of  supererogation. 24 

Referring  to  public  examinations,  which  became  the  estab- 
lished practice  in  the  Philadelphia  Academy  for  many  years 
to  the  great  benefit  of  the  students  and  reputation  of  the  institu- 
tion, Huber  had,  in  a  few  pages  before  the  above,  written  : 

In  Cambridge,  the  Mathematical  examinations  appear  alone  to  have 
been  carried  on  with  earnestness :  indeed,  the  examinations  for  ' '  honors  ' ' 
introduced  as  early  as  the  middle  of  last  century,  became  so  severe,  that 
only  the  ablest  minds  could  enter  the  lists.  The  publicity  of  these  exami- 
nations, and  the  interest  felt  in  the  results,  certainly  gave  a  powerful  excite- 
ment to  ambition  in  the  case  of  those  who  could  compete  for  them. 
Another  and  more  widely  diffused  stimulus,  was  found  in  the  prizes  which 
were  offered,  at  least  after  the  middle  of  the  century,  for  compositions  in 
prose  or  in  verse.  Independently  of  the  prize  itself,  the  publicity  of  the 
recitation  and  the  augury  afforded  of  future  progress  for  the  successful 
candidate,  were  of  great  effect. 25 

He  had  already  spoken  of  the  pre-eminence  of  Mathematics 
at  Cambridge  : 

Only  the  Mathematical  studies  at  Cambridge  and  those  in   Natural 


24  The  English   Universities  from  the  German  of  V.  A.  Huber.     By  F.  W. 
Newman,  ii.  304.  25Ibid,  ii.  299. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       265 

Philosophy  connected  with  them,  require  or  admit  especial  mention.  In 
these  the  impulse  reached  even  the  University  Statutes,  and  introduced  the 
germ  of  the  system  of  mathematical  examinations,  which  has  since  reached 
the  highest  pitch  of  mechanical  perfection  ;  and  essentially  contributed  to 
gain  for  Cambridge  its  mathematical  pre-eminence  above  all  other  institu- 
tions in  the  world.  The  name  of  Newton  suffices  to  explain  this  prepon- 
derance of  mathematics,  yet  we  ought  not  to  overlook  the  merit  of  his 
predecessor  Barrow,  and  the  earlier  predisposition  towards  this  branch  of 
study.  That  Bentley  was  not  able  to  elevate  the  classics  to  the  same 
pitch,  may  be  explained,  both  by  the  firm  footing  which  Mathematics  had 
already  gained,  and  by  his  own  unpleasantness  and  unpopularity.  While 
Cambridge  continued  in  this  praiseworthy  path,  under  Newton's  energetic 
successors,  and  shortly  produced  Person  to  take  the  place  of  Bentley  ; 
Oxford  also  began  to  break  the  spell  of  its  political  evil  spirit,  and  resume 
its  classical  studies.  Thus  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  we 
find  both  the  Universities  upon  that  level  of  scientific,  moral,  and  religious 
cultivation,  upon  which  they  upon  the  whole  remained  till  about  thirty 
years  ago,  when  a  new  impulse  began,  the  riper  and  permanent  results  of 
which  are  yet  to  come. 26 

Dr.  Christopher  Wordsworth  in  his  Social  Life  at  the 
English  Universities  affords  us  more  information  as  to  the  ages 
of  the  matriculants : 

Swift  went  to  Dublin  at  fourteen.  Gibbon  entered  at  Magdalen, 
Oxford,  as  a  gentleman  commoner  (April,  1752)  before  he  had  completed 
his  fifteenth  year.  And,  that  entries  at  that  early  age  were  contemplated  as 
possible,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  there  was  a  regulation  at  Oxford, 
which  provided  that  students  who  entered  at  an  earlier  age  should  not 
subscribe  the  XXXIX  Articles  on  their  matriculation,  bnt  should  wait  till 
they  had  completed  their  fifteenth  year.  Out  of  a  dozen  cases  taken  at 
random,  of  men  who  studied  at  the  Universities  in  the  last  century  (not 
including  Gibbon)  I  find  three  who  entered  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  two  at 
seventeen,  three  at  eighteen,  and  four  at  nineteen.27 

The  ages  of  the  early  graduates  at  the  Philadelphia  College 
show  that  they  entered  college  life  at  earlier  years  than  Dr. 
Wordsworth  quotes  of  the  ages  at  matriculation,  at  the  English 
Universities.  Of  the  seventy  graduates  at  the  sixteen  com- 
mencements, prior  to  the  abrogation  of  the  Charter  in  1 779,  whose 
ages  are  known  to  us,  thirty-seven  were  not  over  nineteen  years 


28  Newman, "ii.  293-4.  "Social  Life,  p.  94. 


266       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  age,  and  of  these,  fifteen  were  seventeen  years  of  age,  eight 
were  sixteen  years,  and  three  were  fifteen  :  these  latter  were 
John  Bankson,  John  Maddox  Wallace,  and  Benjamin  Duffield. 
The  greatest  age  at  graduation  was  twenty-seven  years,  this 
being  the  age  of  Robert  Goldsborough,  Samuel  Jones  a  native 
of  Wales,  and  James  Cannon  a  native  of  Scotland.  The  aver- 
age of  the  whole  number  was  nineteen  years  and  six-sevenths. 
The  sixty-five  whose  ages  are  unknown  to  us  would  not,  it  is 
assumed,  materially  change  these  figures.  There  may  be 
naught  to  argue  from  this  contrary  to  the  completeness  of  the 
College  curriculum,  which  was  admittedly  more  thorough  than 
any  cotemporary  plan  ;  but  the  figures  testify  to  the  influence 
of  colonial  life  which  stimulated  the  young  men  to  more  rapid 
courses  in  their  educational  life,  in  order  the  earlier  to  embark 
in  their  chosen  pursuits  whether  professional  or  otherwise.  In 
the  old  country  at  home  more  deliberation  was  had  in  all  such 
matters,  and  there  probably  no  one  was  eager  to  enter  the  lists 
of  trade  or  of  profession  where  social  caste  prevailed  to  dictate 
the  mode  of  a  man's  pursuit  of  self  maintenance. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       267 

XXXVI. 

It  may  be  well  at  this  point,  though  we  may  anticipate 
some  of  our  steps,  to  consider  whether  the  exemplary  standard 
thus  raised  by  the  Provost  narrowed  the  door  of  admission  to  the 
young  applicant,  and  served  in  the  course  of  years  to  maintain 
a  minimum  number  of  graduates  as  compared  with  the  other 
well  known  and  older  institutions  in  the  land.  To  this  cause — 
if  it  existed — may  be  added  a  city  location  of  the  College  and 
Academy,  wherein  was  at  first  no  stated  home  for  the  student 
from  the  interior  and  which  deficiency  was  only  in  part  remedied 
within  a  few  years.  Harvard,  and  Yale,  and  New  Jersey,  and 
William  and  Mary,  each  graduated  more  pupils  than  Philadel- 
phia and  King's  College  together,  '.within  the  twenty  years 
following  1756.  Cambridge,  New  Haven,  Princeton,  and 
Williamsburg  were  small  places,  possibly  chosen  for  scholastic 
sites  on  account  of  their  freedom  from  the  turmoil  of  large 
centres,  though  the  first  named  was  within  sound  of  one.  Har- 
vard and  Yale  drew  matriculants  from  the  New  England  Col- 
onies and  some  even  from  New  York  ;  Princeton's  supply  came 
as  well  from  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  as  from  New  Jersey, 
the  Presbyterian  element  in  Philadelphia  contributing  largely 
to  it.  The  College  of  Philadelphia  could  only  draw  from  its 
own  province  and  the  Lower  Counties — as  they  were  termed, 
but  at  the  same  time  attracted  many  from  Maryland,  when 
William  and  Mary  within  the  period  under  review  had  but  two 
Maryland  graduates.  But  Philadelphia  had  the  honor  of  grad- 
uating Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant  in  1763,  a  graduate  of 
Princeton  of  1762,  which  of  itself  was  a  testimony  to  its  higher 
standard.  Columbia  drew  from  the  churchmen  of  New  York 
and  some  West  India  youth,  notably  Alexander  Hamilton, 
though  the  latter's  studies  were  interrupted  by  the  approach  of 
the  Revolution.  Of  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  graduates  of 
William  and  Mary  within  these  two  decades,  three  hundred  were 
Virginians,  of  whom  were  Jefferson,  Monroe,  and  Marshall, 
two  from  Maryland,  one  from  Jamaica,  the  three  Murrays, 
sons  of  the  Earl  of  Dunmore,  and  to  the  honor  of  the  college 


268        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

be  it  recorded — ten  Indians.  The  two  city  colleges,  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  even  under  experienced  leaders  supported  by 
strong  local  influences,  suffered  for  want  of  that  home  college  life 
which  the  other  institutions  offered.  Harvard  in  this  period 
made  an  annual  average  of  about  forty-one  graduates,  Yale 
about  thirty-three,  Princeton  about  twenty  and  William  and 
Mary  about  sixteen,  while  Philadelphia  with  two  vacant  years, 
1758  and  1764,  averaged  in  the  twenty  a  little  over  seven,  and 
Columbia  with  its  first  Commencement  in  1758,  averaged  in  the 
nineteen  years  but  about  five  and  one-half.  Of  the  graduates  in 
this  period  eight  became  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, William  and  Mary  furnishing  Wythe,  Jefferson  and 
Braxton  ;  Philadelphia,  Hopkinson  and  Paca  ;  Harvard,  Hooper 
and  Gerry;  and  Princeton,  Benjamin  Rush — a  Philadelphia!!.  Of 
the  College  Alumni  before  1757,  there  were  ten  of  the  signers, 
of  which  Harvard  furnished  Samuel  Adams,  Ellery,  Williams, 
Paine  and  John  Adams  ;  Yale,  Livingston,  Lewis  Morris,  Wol- 
cott  and  Hall  (these  two  classmates  of  1747);  and  Princeton, 
Stockton.  The  churchmanship  of  King's  College  did  not 
attract  pupils  from  the  general  community,  as  Yale  and  Prince- 
ton on  either  side  not  only  furnished  to  them  a  more  welcome 
theology  but  a  college  home  life.  Philadelphia  with  its  liberal 
Constitutions  and  catholic  minded  Trustees  yet  eventually  fell 
tinder  the  taint  of  Episcopacy,  for  in  Christ  Church  were 
centred  those  most  active  in  its  control  and  management.  But 
its  standard  was  elevated,  and  many  of  the  best  minds  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland  and  Delaware  sought  the  Muses  in  its 
College,  rugged  as  were  the  steps  that  led  into  its  Portico.  It 
was  to  the  honor  of  the  College  and  to  the  credit  of  the  young 
Provost,  that  the  maintenance  of  his  high  standard  of  1756 
secured  to  the  graduates  a  higher  rank  in  general  studies,  i.  e.  in 
Philosophy,  than  their  compeers  of  other  Colleges  at  the  time. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       269 

XXXVII. 

To  carry  out  in  thoroughness  this  comprehensive  scheme  of 
tuition  the  Provost  had  associated  with  him  in  the  Faculty,  the 
Vice  Provost  Alison,  and  Professors  Grew,  Kinnersley,  and 
Jackson,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Tutors  James  Latta,  Hugh 
Williamson,  and  Thomas  Pratt.  Horace  Jones  had  served  from 
1751,  and  his  engagement  ceased  in  January  of  this  year. 
Young  Duche  had  served  but  one  year's  Tutorship;  from 
August,  1754,  he  had  devoted  himself  solely  to  his  studies. 
Jackson,  a  Tutor  from  April  1752,  had  now  been  appointed 
Professor  of  the  Languages.  John  Ormsby,  appointed  a  Tutor 
in  the  latter  part  of  1753,  had  served  but  a  few  months.  John 
Constable's  appointment  as  Tutor  in  February,  1755,  continued 
barely  six  months.  William  Donnaldson  served  as  Tutor  but 
for  one  quarter,  at  the  close  of  1755.  Andrew  Morton  had 
been  Master  of  the  Charity  School  since  March,  1753  ;  William 
Ayres  had  been  assistant  in  the  Charity  School  since  Septem- 
ber, 1755,  and  when  Mr.  Morton  was  appointed  Tutor,  he  was- 
unanimously  chosen  Master  to  succeed  him  ;  and  Mrs.  Frances 
Holvvell  had  been  Mistress  of  the  Charity  School  from  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year.  John  Kirke  had  assisted  in  the  Charity 
School  during  1774,  and  was  "allowed  Twenty  Pounds  for  his 
service  and  Thirty  pounds  for  the  year  ensuing  if 

he  continues  in  the  Academy,"  which,  however^  he  did  not. 
Hugh  Williamson  added  to  his  duties  as  Tutor  those  of  Writing 
Master;  but  later,  Thomas  Pratt  was  called  the  Writing  Master. 
Williamson  and  Latta,  tutors  in  the  Latin  Schools,  were  pupils 
in  the  Philosophy  Schools,  and  were  to  adorn  the  first  gradu- 
ating class  in  the  year  foilowing. 


2/o       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XXXVIII. 

But  the  activities  of  the  Provost  in  other  matters  than  those 
of  the  College — the  claims  of  which  might  well  be  supposed  to 
engage  his  entire  time  with  only  intervals  for  those  pulpit  calls 
which  his  eloquence  made  frequent,1  brought  him  abreast  of 
the  politics  of  the  day  in  which  he  stirred  with  a  lively  interest, 
and  on  behalf  of  which  he  often  exercised  his  ready  and  trench- 
ant pen.  Controversy  with  him  was  a  sure  avenue  to  the  display 
of  his  keenest  abilities,  and  perhaps  was  more  congenial  to  him 
at  this  time  of  his  life,  for  he  was  not  over  thirty  years  of  age, 
than  the  staid  and  regular  duties  of  the  College  with  its  full  day 
sessions  and  brief  holidays  in  season.  This  much  must  be  said 
before  we  narrate  one  of  these  controversies,  the  consideration 
of  which  found  its  way  into  the  deliberations  of  the  Trustees, 
and  necessarily  became  part  of  the  history  of  the  College;  the 
only  advantage  of  which  lies  in  the  opportunity  it  affords  us  in 
passing  to  take  some  view  of  the  political  heats  of  the  province 
and  city  at  that  time  prevailing. 

Early  in  the  year  1756  party  feeling  ran  high;  the  popular 
sentiment  being  keenly  at  the  time  against  the  Proprietaries 
who  continuously  instructed  their  Governors  not  to  approve  of 
any  bill  taxing  their  estates,  and  the  other  side  contending  this 
cry  was  a  pretence  to  undermine  the  Proprietaries'  interest 
entirely  and  take  the  Government  out  of  their  hands.  William 
Smith,  who  could  not  rest  quiet  in  any  civil  strife  any  more  than 
in  a  theological  controversy,  early  sided  with  the  latter  party, 
and  against  the  Assembly  of  which  Franklin  was  a  conspicuous 
and  influential  member.  We  have  seen  from  his  letter  of  July, 
1754,  how  early  in  his  Pennsylvania  life  he  had  formed  views  on 
local  controversies.  It  was  in  the  month  of  March,  1756,  that 
being  at  the  Coffee  House  and  engaged  in  animated  conversa- 
tion with  Mr.  Daniel  Roberdeau,  afterwards  General  Roberdeau, 
the  latter  said  to  him  "  he  was  sorry  a  gentleman  of  his  cloth  had 


1  Dr.  George  B.  Wood  in  his  History  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  read 
before  the  Historical  Society  on  29  October,  1827,  says:  "The  Rev'd  Dr.  William 
Smith  was  eminent  for  his  various  learning  and  general  ability.  Many  living  can  bear 
witness  to  his  eloquence  as  a  preacher."  p.  20. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        271 

intermeddled  in  party  affairs,"  to  which  Mr.  Smith  replied  "I 
am  of  no  Party  :  I  just  dress  the  Sentiments  of  one  side  of  the 
Question  ;  I  would  do  the  same  for  you,  were  there  not  men  of 
abilities  among  you."  This  language  was  overheard,  and  being 
repeated  from  mouth  to  mouth  was  added  to,  so  that  the 
accepted  report  had  it  that  Smith's  language  was  to  this  effect : 
"  I  only  dress  the  Sentiments  of  the  Proprietary  side  in  proper 
language ;  and  if  it  was  not  that  there  are  men  of  sense  and 
ability  among  the  friends  of  the  People  I  would  do  the  same  for 
them."  The  offense  in  this  latter  version  lay  in  the  naming  of 
the  two  parties,  and  the  sting  to  Smith  was  in  his  apparent 
acknowledgment  that  the  Assembly  party  were  the  Friends  of 
the  People.  This  Mr.  Smith  met  by  an  affidavit  not  only  deny- 
ing the  language  as  reported,  but  further  denying  his  having 
given  expression  to  any  sentiments  of  the  kind  whatever  in  a 
conversation  with  Mr.  Roberdeau  or  otherwise.  This  was  met 
by  an  affidavit  of  the  gentleman  and  by  the  same  from  those 
bystanders  who  had  noted  what  had  been  said  in  the  warmth 
of  the  conversation,  affirming  that  Mr.  Smith  employed  the 
words  as  first  recited  above.  And  to  strengthen  Mr.  Rober- 
deau's  worth  and  credit  with  the  community,  not  only  did  the 
Rector,  Warden,  and  Vestrymen  of  Christ  Church  certify  to  his 
having  "always  supported  the  character  of  an  Honest,  Virtu- 
ous, Religious,  Upright  and  Sober  man,"  but  certain  citi- 
zens, seventy  in  number,  joined  in  a  certificate  in  the  same 
terms,  among  whom  were  Drs.  Bond  and  Zachary  and  Mr. 
Syng,  who  were  trustees  of  the  Academy.  The  town  talk 
became  oppressive,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Journal,  Bradford's 
paper,  admitted  communications  on  the  charge  anonymous  and 
otherwise.  Humphrey  Scourge  gave  mild  advice  to  a  certain 
Parson  :  "  I  could  wish  for  thy  own  sake,  and  the  sake  of  those 
under  thy  care,  that  thee  would  behave  more  prudently,  and 
give  less  occasion  of  offense  to  the  People  ;  "  and  Obadiah 
Honesty  came  out  in  a  Broadside  arguing  that  the  probabilities 
all  were  against  Mr.  Smith  saying  the  words  currently  reported 
he  had  uttered.  Smith  himself  was  the  reputed  author  of  an 
article  in  the  Journal  of  15  April  in  which  he  referred  to  the 


2/2          HISTORY    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

"  aspiring  views  of  a  certain  mighty  politician,  who  expected 
that  every  person  would  fall  down  and  worship  the  GOLDEN 
CALF.  I  had  almost  said  the  GOLDEN  BULL."  Which  were 
considered  by  another  writer  in  the  issue  of  the  following  week 
as  "the  vomitings  of  this  infamous  hireling  against  an  absent 
person."  And  to  this  on  6  May,  Smith's  rejoinder  contained  a 
qualification  of  these  words,  "  No  one  desires  to  detract  from  the 
Gentleman's  Merits  and  Abilities,  but  certainly  they  are  not  too 
high  for  competition  nor  wholly  unparalleled."  These  references 
to  Franklin  did  not  show  new  antagonisms,  but  were  the  fruits 
of  earlier  controversies.  Franklin  was  absent  during  this  news- 
paper war,  not  returning  until  June ;  but  his  unwillingness 
longer  to  continue  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  took  form 
at  the  annual  meeting  in  May,  when  Dr.  Peters  succeeded  him. 
At  the  moment  of  time  when  William  and  Mary  was  bestowing 
on  him  their  honorary  degree,  his  own  College  under  the  heat 
of  local  politics  was  willing  his  influence  in  it  should  be  lessened, 
and  accepted  his  withdrawal  from  the  Presidency. 

This  present  controversy  was  affecting  the  College,  and  the 
young  Provost  felt  the  need  of  vindication  from  public  calumny. 
Franklin  on  his  return  from  Virginia  attended  the  meeting  of  8 
June,  but  being  again  called  out  of  town  was  not  at  the  meeting 
of  5  July,  Messrs.  Peters,  Allen,  Hamilton,  Inglis,  Stedman, 
Maddox,  Coleman,  Strettel,  Taylor  and  Syng  only  being  present, 
when 

it  was  moved  by  one  of  the  Trustees  that  Examination  be  made  into  the 
foundation  of  the  Several  Charges  lately  published  to  the  Disadvantage  of 
Mr.  Smith,  as  the  Reputation  of  the  Academy  might  be  affected  by  them, 
and  it  appearing  to  the  Trustees  that  in  Justice  to  their  own  Character  as 
well  as  that  of  their  Provost,  such  an  examination  was  very  proper,  it  was 
referred  to  Mr  Peters,  Mr  Taylor  and  Mr  Stedman  to  make  full  enquiry  into 
this  Matter  and  report  the  same  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  that  it 
may  then  be  considered  what  ought  farther  to  be  done. 

At  the  same  meeting,  four  of  the  students  of  the  Senior  Philos- 
ophy Class,  viz.  :  Duche,  Latta,  Hopkinson  and  Williamson, 
presented  a  paper  to  the  Trustees  which  was  ordered  entered  on 
the  minutes  bearing  on  this  subject.  Magaw  and  Morgan's  signa- 
tures are  not  attached  as  they  were  out  of  town.  It  was  a  filial 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       273 

document,  the  utterance  of  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  their  Provost 
to  whom  they  were  personally  attached,  resenting  the 

several  unjust  and  malicious  insinuations  lately  appearing  in  the  public 
papers  and  been  spread  through  the  city  by  the  heat  of  Party  against  the 
Rev.  William  Smith,  Provost  of  this  College,  [and  thinking  it]  their  duty  in 
justice  to  the  Character  of  our  respected  Tutor  to  certify  to  you  that  for  near 
the  space  of  two  years  last  in  which  we  have  been  under  his  immediate  care, 
he  never  did  in  any  of  the  lectures  take  occasion  to  introduce  anything  relat- 
ing to  the  Parties  now  subsisting  in  this  Province,  or  tending  to  persuade  us 
to  adopt  the  Principles  of  one  side  more  than  another.  *  *  *  We 
further  beg  leave  to  certify  to  you  that  in  the  whole  course  of  his  Lectures  on 
Ethics,  Government,  and  Commerce,  he  never  advanced  any  other  Princi- 
ples than  what  were  warranted  by  our  standard  authors  Grotius,  Puffendorf, 
Locke  and  Hutcheson,  writers  whose  sentiments  are  equally  opposite  to 
those  wild  notions  of  Liberty,  that  are  inconsistent  with  all  government,  and 
to  those  pernicious  schemes  of  government  which  are  destructive  of  true 
liberty,  *  *  *  as  a  sufficient  proof  of  which  we  now  lay  our  notes  of 
the  Lectures  which  he  delivered  upon  the  several  Branches  of  Morality 
before  the  Trustees  and  any  other  persons  willing  to  inspect  the  same. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  13  July  with  the  same  members 
except  Messrs.  Coleman  and  Syng,  and  adding  Messrs.  Turner, 
Cadwalader  and  Mifflin,  the  committee  presented  their  report, 
"  which  being  several  times  read  and  considered  the  Trustees 
were  unanimously  of  opinion  with  the  Committee  on  the 
several  Matters  reported  by  them,  approved  and  agreed  to  their 
Report."  In  the  course  of  this  the  Committee  say  : 

We  have  likewise  at  the  request  of  the  Trustees  examined  and  inquired 
into  the  conduct  of  the  Rev'd  Mr  Smith  and  do  report  that  during  his 
employment  in  his  present  Station  as  Provost  of  the  said  College  and 
Academy,  it  has  been  becoming  and  satisfactory  to  us  ;  his  application,  his 
abilities  and  Labours  in  the  instruction  of  his  Pupils  have  been  attended 
with  good  success  and  approved  by  the  Trustees  and  Audience,  at  the 
late  public  examination  of  the  senior  Philosophy  class,  who  are  now  recom- 
mended for  admission  to  their  first  Degree.  *  *  *  From  these  facts 
and  our  own  personal  knowledge  of  Mr  Smith  we  are  of  opinion  that  he  has 
discharged  his  Trust  as  a  capable  Professor  and  an  honest  man,  and  that 
he  has  given  sufficient  evidence  of  the  goodness  of  his  Principles. 

The  action  of  the  Trustees  was  accepted  as  his  final  dis- 
charge from  the  burden  of  these  public  insinuations,  and  an 
exoneration  from  all  alleged  injury  to  the  institutions  by  his 


274        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

political  course.  Their  Committee's  report  they  desired  pub- 
lished in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  which  offered  a  wider  pub- 
licity than  that  afforded  by  the  Journal,  though  as  it  was  known 
as  Franklin's  paper,  its  columns  were  rather  on  that  account 
sought  for  personal  reasons.  Franklin  was  absent  from  the 
the  city,  but  David  Hall  the  publisher  returned  a  reply  declin- 
ing an  insertion,  and  this  was  a  further  cause  of  offence  against 
the  proprietor  of  the  Gazette.  This  suspicion  was  not  warranted, 
however,  and  importance  only  is  attached  to  Hall's  letter  from 
the  fact  that  the  Trustees  at  their  meeting  of  10  August  thought 
it  merited  a  full  insertion  in  their  minutes.  Mr.  Hall  said  in  his 
letter  of  15  July  : 

but  as  these  insinuations  were  not  published  in  our  paper,  and  as  it  has 
some  relation  to  the  party  disputes  that  have  for  some  time  subsisted,  which 
we  have  carefully  avoided  having  any  concern  with,  I  cannot  but  think  it 
more  proper  to  publish  this  by  the  same  channel,  through  which  the  Dis- 
putes have  hitherto  been  carried  on,  on  both  sides;  especially  as  in  all 
probability  there  will  be  some  answer  or  remarks  offered  upon  it  which  we 
should  be  under  a  necessity  of  publishing,  if  we  printed  this,  and  be 
thereby  engaged  in  an  affair,  which  we  have  all  along  been  endeavoring  to 
avoid.  I  therefore  return  it  to  you  in  time,  that  it  maybe  published  in  the 
other  paper,  if  thought  proper. 

This  referred  to  Bradford's  Journal,  in  which,  however,  it 
did  not  make  an  appearance.  If  the  report  made  to  the  Trustees 
was  offered  to  Bradford  for  publication  after  this  refusal  by  the 
Gazette,  and  declined  by  him  also,  the  reason  must  have  been 
from  a  like  desire  to  avoid  further  controversy  on  the  subject. 

This  declination  was  in  consonance  with  the  general  course 
of  Franklin's  Gazette,  and  to  have  printed  the  Trustees'  finding 
would  have  been  a  departure  from  it.  The  principles  of  the 
paper  in  this  regard  were  enumerated  in  the  issue  of  8  Janu- 
ary preceding  in  Franklin's  words,  which  form  a  sound  example 
for  the  guidance  of  the  partisan  press  of  to-day  : 

Whereas  the  Publick  has  been  lately  informed,  that  -various  seditious 
and  inflaming  Papers  have  been  published  in  this  Province  containing  abus- 
ive Reflections,  manifestly  tending  to  propagate  Dissension,  G^c.,  which 
seems  (tho*  perhaps  undesignedly)  to  throw  a  general  Reflection  on  all  the 
Printers  in  the  Province;  and  as  the  Publishers  of  this  Gazette  think  they 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       275 

deserve  no  share  of  that  Blame,  having,  for  a  course  of  years,  carefully 
avoided  publishing  any  Thing  of  that  kind  in  their  Paper;  they  therefore 
desire,  that  Papers  of  such  a  Tendency  may  not  be  offered  to  their  Press 
for  the  future;  for  if  they  are,  they  will  (as  they  have  hitherto  been)  be 
absolutely  rejected,  without  any  regard  to  the  Author  or  Authors  of  them. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  if  any  Pieces  of  a  healing  Nature  are  sent  us,  with 
a  view  of  doing  away  our  late  unhappy  Differences,  and  of  extirpating  that 
cruel  Spirit  of  Party  Rage,  which  has  so  long  torn  us  to  Pieces;  and  which 
may  be  a  Means  under  Divine  Providence  of  uniting  us  together  as  one 
Man  in  the  Defence  of  our  bleeding  country,  that  is  daily  ravaged  by  a 
Savage  enemy,  supported  by  a  treacherous  one;  such  Pieces  shall  be  most 
thankfully  received  and  immediately  made  publick,  by  the  Proprietors  of 
this  News-Paper. 


XXXIX. 

From  this  picture  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  another  sphere 
of  action  in  which  William  Smith  found  time  to  engage, 
one  more  congenial  to  his  academy  connections,  and  this  was 
the  work  of  the  Society  for  the  Education  of  Germans  in 
America.1  Before  he  left  London  on  his  return  to  America  in 
the  Spring  of  1754,  he  had  been  in  communication  with  gentle- 
men who  had  associated  themselves  to  secure  more  education  to 
the  ignorant  German  emigrants  to  Pennsylvania,  and  prevent 
their  being  led  away  by  French  persuasions  from  British  inter- 
ests, and  "  that  they  may  become  better  subjects  to  the  British 
government  and  more  useful  to  the  Colonies,  where  Providence 
has  now  fixed  their  habitation."  On  their  behalf  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Chandler,  their  Secretary,  addressed  a  letter  to  Gover- 
nor Hamilton,  Chief  Justice  Allen,  Secretary  Peters,  Postmaster 
General  Franklin,  Conrad  Weiser.  Interpreter,  and  Rev.  William 
Smith,  which  the  latter  bore  with  him,  appointing  these  gentle- 
men their  Trustees.  Mr.  Smith  wrote  to  Mr.  Chandler,  in  a 
week  after  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  conveying  the  assurance 
of  these  gentlemen  of  how  sensible  they  were  of  the  honor  done 

1  Smith,  i.  40. 


276       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

them  by  the  Society,  and  that  they  will  decline  no  labor  in  the 
execution  of  their  important  trust,  adding  : 

We  think  the  scheme  you  have  engaged  in  for  the  instruction  of  these 
poor  foreigners,  and  blend  them  with  ourselves  in  the  most  inestimable 
privileges  and  interests,  is  one  of  the  most  generous  and  most  useful  that 
ever  engaged  the  attention  even  of  Britons.  But  Mess  Peters  and  Frank- 
lin are  to  be  sent  out  on  Monday  next  as  commissioners  from  this  Province 
to  the  general  treaty,  to  be  held  with  the  Five  Nations  at  Albany  in  New 
York,  on  the  I4th  of  next  month;  we  cannot,  therefore,  do  anything  in  the 
business  you  so  generously  commend  to  us  until  their  return,  especially  as 
Mr.  Weiser  attends  them. 

At  their  first  meeting,2  10  August,  1754,  held  at  the  house 
of  the  Chief  Justice  at  Mount  Airy,  Messrs.  Hamilton,  Peters, 
Franklin,  and  Smith  being  present,  they  resolved  "  that  an  Eng- 
lish school  be  erected  and  opened  with  all  possible  expedition 
at  each  of  the  following  places,  viz  :  at  Reading,  York,  Easton, 
Lancaster,  Hanover,  and  Skippack."  As  there  early  arose 

the  difficulty  of  finding  proper  Schoolmasters  skilled  in  both  languages 
coming  next  under  consideration,  Mr.  Smith  informed  his  co-trustees  that 
there  were  several  poor  children  in  the  Academy  that  spoke  English  and 
German,  who  might  in  a  few  years  be  qualified  to  serve  as  schoolmasters. 

Franklin  presented  and  read  a  letter  to  him  from  the  Rev. 
Henry  Muhlenberg  in  which 

he  rejoiced  much  in  hearing  an  illustrious  society  at  home  had  undertaken 
to  carry  on  a  scheme  for  promoting  the  knowledge  of  God  among  the 
Germans  in  Pennsylvania,  and  for  making  them  loyal  subjects  to  the  sacred 
Protestant  throne  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  he  was  pleased  that  the  man- 
agement of  the  said  charity  was  intrusted  to  such  important  persons  ;  but, 
as  by  long  experience  he  was  acquainted  with  almost  all  the  corners  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  with  the  temper  and  circumstances  of  his  countrymen, 
he  much  feared  some  ill-minded  persons  would  strive  to  defeat  so  just  and 
noble  a  view.  *  *  *  Mr.  Sauer  who  printed  a  German  newspaper, 
which  was  universally  read  by  the  Germans  all  over  Pennsylvania  and  the 
neighboring  colonies,  made  haste  to  prejudice  them  against  the  scheme. 

It  was  resolved  to  purchase  a  German  printing-house,  to 
counteract  this  influence  ;  and 
Mr  Franklin  said  that  a  few  days  before  a  printer  of  good  character,  well 

2  Smith,  i.  64. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        277 

skilled  in  English  and  German,  had  applied  to  him  to  purchase  his 
German  printing  house,  but  that  if  the  trustees  thought  it  best  to  have  the 
press  under  their  own  direction,  he  would  endeavor  to  engage  the  printer 
in  their  service,  both  as  a  schoolmaster  and  printer,  and  in  order  to  encour- 
age so  useful  a  work,  he  would  dispose  of  his  press  to  the  trustees  31/25. 
less  than  any  two  impartial  judges  would  value  it  at.  [This  was  agreed  to, 
and  Mr.  Smith  was  appointed  Secretary]  to  keep  a  record  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Trustees,  so  that  copies  of  them  might  from  time  to  time  be 
transmitted  to  the  Society  in  London  and  to  the  proprietaries. 

At  a  meeting  on  23  August  held  at  the  Governor's  House 
at  Bush  Hill,  local  or  deputy  trustees  were  elected  for  each  of 
the  six  places  already  named  ;  and  the  question  arising  whether 
one  Calvinist  and  one  Lutheran  minister  should  not  be  joined 
with  each  set  of  deputy  trustees,  Mr  Weiser  observed  that 

so  great  was  the  jealousy  of  the  people  at  present  against  the  clergy  in 
general,  that  such  a  measure  at  first  might  be  a  hindrance  to  the  scheme, 
especially  as  these  jealousies  are  daily  fomented,  as  was  further  confirmed 
by  different  articles  which  he  called  attention  to  in  MrSauer's  paper. 

Mr.  Smith's  correspondence  in  the  work  of  this  Society  is 
very  entertaining,  and  affords  a  view  of  the  apprehension  gener- 
ally felt  by  the  loyal  and  educated  Englishmen  of  the  increase 
of  the  German  population,  who,  with  an  alien  language  portended 
trouble  to  the  unity  of  English  rule  in  Pennsylvania.  He  writes  • 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  19  October,  I754.3 

As  the  French  are|daily  encroaching  behind  us,  and  taking  possession 
of  the  vast  fruitful  country  upon  the  Ohio,  they  will  be  able  to  offer  our 
Germans  easy  settlements,  which  these  last  will  accept  of,  as  they  are  an 
ignorant  people  that  know  no  difference  between  French  and  English  gov- 
ernment, being  wanton  with  liberty,  uninstructed  in  the  use  of  it,  and 
placing  all  happiness  in  possessing  a  large  piece  of  land.  *  *  *  The  Indians 
are  going  over  to  the  French  in  these  parts,  because  the  latter,  having 
possession  by  means  of  their  forts,  can  protect  them  ;  and  whenever  they 
come  a  little  nearer,  the  Germans  will  submit  and  go  over  also  for  protec- 
tion, caring  for  nothing  but  to  keep  possession  of  the  estates  they  have 
settled. 

Mr.  Smith  prepared  A  Brief  History  of  the  Rise  and  Prog- 
ress of  the  Scheme  carrying  on  for  the  Instruction  of  Poor  Ger- 

3  Smith,  i.  86. 


278       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

mans  and  their  Descendants,  which  was  approved  of  at  a  meet- 
ing on  10  December,  1754,  and  fifteen  hundred  copies  ordered 
to  be  printed  in  English  and  Dutch.  The  work  went  on  ;  and 
in  February,  1755,  they  commissioned  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schlatter*  to 
take  a  journey  through  the  several  parts  of  the  Province  and 
visit  the  schools  already  formed,  and  try  to  counteract  the 
opposition  which  yet  remained  to  this  benevolent  plan,  and  seek 
more  openings  for  the  furtherance  of  the  objects  of  the  Society. 
But  Christopher  Sauer  mistrusted  its  aims  and  fanned  the  oppo- 
sition into  life.  He  wrote  to  a  friend  6  September,  1755  : 

I  have  been  thinking  since  you  wrote  to  me  whether  it  is  really  true 
that  Gilbert  Tennent,  Schlatter,  Peters,  Hamilton,  Allen,  Turner,  Schippin, 
Schmitt,  Franklin,  Muhlenberg,  Brumholz,  Handschuh,  &c,  have  the 
slightest  care  for  a  real  conversion  of  the  ignorant  portion  of  the  Germans 
in  Pennsylvania,  or  whether  the  institution  of  free  schools  is  not  rather  the 
foundation  to  bring  the  country  into  servitude,  so  that  each  of  them  may 
look  for  and  have  his  own  private  interest  and  advantage.5  Concerning 
Hamilton,  Peters,  Allen,  Turner,  Schippin,  and  Franklin,  I  know  that  they 
care  very  little  about  religion,  nor  do  they  care  for  the  cultivation  of  mind 
of  the  Germans,  except  that  they  should  form  the  militia,  and  defend  their 
properties.  Such  people  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  have  faith  and  confi- 
dence in  God;  but  they  are  mortified  that  they  cannot  compel  others  to 
protect  their  goods. 

The  Society  bought  Franklin's  press  on  his  terms ;  and 
Smith  writes  Mr.  Chandler  30  October,  1755  :6 

The  German  newspaper  succeeded  well;  there  being  upwards  of  400 
subscribers,  and  more  daily  coming  in,  *  *  *  the  paper  may  do  more 
good  to  the  design  than  several  sc  hools,  because  the  Director  has  express 
orders  not  to  meddle  with  any  of  the  disputes  in  this  province,  but  to  strive 
in  every  paper  to  say  something  to  improve  and  better  his  countrymen  and 
to  confirm  them  in  the  Love  and  Knowledge  of  the  Protestant  Religion  and 
Civil  Liberty.  There  are  also  3000  Dutch  almanacs  for  1756  printed. 

This  was  a  noble  work,  in  which  William  Smith  appeared 
to  have  had  the  laboring  oar,  exhibiting  at  once  his  faith,  his 
patriotism  and  his  philanthropy.  When  we  consider  this,  with  all 
its  correspondence  and  perhaps  controversy,  was  added  to  his 
first  busy  year  at  the  Academy  which  had  now  become  a  College 

4  Smith,  i.  92.  5  Ibid,  i.  95.  6  Ibid,  i.  96. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       279 

with  him  as  its  Provost,  together  with  his  by-play  of  local 
politics,  we  can  form  some  realization  of  his  great  energy  and 
keen  intelligence,  shunning  no  work,  accepting  in  the  warmth 
of  youth  all  those  duties  which  an  active  and  willing  man  always 
draws  to  himself,  and  performing  them  with  singular  zeal  and 
tenacity. 

In  the  height  of  the  Roberdeau  controversy,  occurred  the 
public  fast,  appointed  by  the  Government  of  Pennsylvania,  for 
2  May  1756;  and  Mr.  Smith  preached  at  Bristol,7  Pennsylvania, 
one  of  his  published  Discourses,  taking  as  his  text  certain  verses 
from  Jeremiah  viii.  In  his  introduction  he  "  acquaints  the  reader 
that  the  discourse  was  delivered  when  the  Province  was  groaning 
under  all  that  load  of  misery,  which  was  the  consequence  of 
Braddock's  Defeat  and  the  inroads  of  the  French  and  Savages  on 
our  distressed  and  helpless  Frontiers,  and  any  apology  for  the 
matter  or  manner  of  it  would  be  needless."  In  it  he  eloquently 
describes  the  visitations  of  Providence,  which  brought  from  the 
Authorities  the  call  for  a  Fast. 

Within  the  short  period  of  one  year,  how  many  marks  of  God's 
dealing  with  us  have  we  seen  ?  Not  to  mention  excessive  droughts,  earth- 
quakes and  other  omens  of  his  wrath,  the  troops  sent  to  our  protection 
have  been  most  miserably  defeated,  and  such  scenes  of  barbarity,  sorrow 
and  desolation  have  ensued,  as  human  nature  shudders  to  recount,  and 
history  can  scarce  parallel.  *  *  *  Yet  what  have  we  profited  by  all 
this  ?  *  *  *  Has  it  brought  our  civil  discords  to  an  end  ?  or  has  it 
eradicated  those  absurd  principles  of  government  that  have  brought  our 
country  to  the  brink  of  ruin  ?  *  *  *  Have  we  not  many  who  have 
made  it  their  business  to  restrain  the  ardor  of  God's  people  in  their 
righteous  cause  ;  to  tie  up  the  hands  of  the  king's  best  subjects  in  the 
hour  of  extremest  danger,  and  cry,  Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace  ? 

These  political  references  were  not  misunderstood  at  the  time. 

During  the  year  prior  to  this,  William  Smith  had  written 
a  pamphlet  entitled  A  Brief  State  of  the  Province  of  Pennsyl- 
vania *  *  *  in  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  who  has  resided 
many  years  in  Pennsylvania  to  his  friend  in  London  in  which  the 


7  Discourses,  London  I759>P-  62.  This  is  the  only  edition  naming  the  place 
of  preaching.  This  was  afterwards  preached  "  with  small  variation  "  at  German- 
town  on  the  Public  Fast  in  July  1757.  ibid,  p.  6l. 


280       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

conduct  of  their  assemblies  is  impartially  examined,  and  which 
passed  through  three  editions  in  London.8  This  was  charged 
with  being  written  "  with  a  view  to  render  the  Quakers  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  their  Government  obnoxious  to  the  British  Par- 
liament and  Ministry."  And  Smith  wrote  a  second  letter 
entitled  A  Brief  View  of  the  Conduct  of  Pennsylvania  for  the 
year  ij$5  *  *  *  Interspersed  with  several  interesting  anec- 
dotes and  original  papers  relating  to  the  politics  and  principles  of 
of  the  people  called  Quakers,  which  was  published  in  London  in 
I/56.9  In  his  first  letter,  Smith  affords  us  some  interesting 
figures  of  the  population  of  the  Province  : 

that  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  computed  to  be  two  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand — one  third  Germans,  two  fifths  Quakers,  more  than  one  fifth 
Presbyterians,  and  some  few  Baptists.  One  fourth  of  the  Germans  were 
Roman  Catholics.  [He]  suggested  that  Christopher  Sauer  was  a  popish 
emissary,  in  the  pay  of  the  Quakers. 

And  the  consequence  of  Sauer's  influence  "  was  that  the  Ger- 
mans voted  with  the  Quakers,  were  under  the  control  of  that 
party,  and  always  voted  to  keep  them  in  power."  And  he 
recommended 

to  suspend  the  right  of  voting  for  members  of  the  Assembly  from  the 
Germans  until  they  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  our  language  and  consti- 
tution :  and  to  make  all  bonds,  wills  and  other  legal  contracts,  void, 
unless  in  the  English  tongue  ;  that  no  newspapers,  almanacs,  or  periodi- 
cal paper,  by  whatsoever  name  it  may  be  called,  be  printed  or  circulated 
in  foreign  language  ;  or,  at  least,  if  allowed,  with  a  just  and  fair  English 
version  of  such  foreign  language  printed  in  one  column  of  the  same  page 
or  pages,  along  with  the  said  foreign  language. 

And  yet  we  have  found  him  pursuing,  in  response  to  Franklin's 
wise  suggestion,  the  better  course  in  the  Society  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Germans  of  meeting  the  redoubtable  Christopher 
Sauer  with  his  own  weapons,  and  employing  a  German  press 
to  circulate  its  publications  among  those  dreaded  foreigners 


8  Smith,  i.  122,  123. 

9 The  Pennsylvania  Journal  of  27  May,  1/56,  announces  this,  "Being  a 
Sequel  to  a  Late  well  known  Pamphlet  Intitled  a  Brief  State  of  Pennsylvania." 
"  Just  published  in  London  and  to  be  sold  by  William  Bradford,  price  2/6."  The 
Gazette  of  the  following  week  has  a  like  advertisement. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       281 

whose  assumed  power  for  evil  was  deemed  subversive  of  all  that 
was  English  in  Government  or  religion  ;  overlooking  the  force 
of  a  natural  sympathy  binding  the  quiet  German,  intent  only 
in  his  home  life  and  freedom  from  state  ambition,  to  the  peace 
loving  Quaker  who  might  be  the  better  legislator  for  his  in- 
terests. It  is  difficult  for  us  of  to-day,  who  are  reaping  the  fruits 
of  the  inherent  strength  of  our  own  mother  tongue,  to  realize 
the  apprehension  of  our  colonists  at  the  predominating  influence 
of  German  language  and  politics. 


XL. 

The  life  of  the  young  College  and  Academy  would  not  re- 
ceive full  illustration  without  a  proper  understanding  at  this 
period  of  the  activities  of  its  young  Provost ;  for  it  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  that  his  instant  zeal  ecclesiastically,  politically,  and 
philanthropically  should  reflect  some  publicity  upon,  and  secure 
some  influence  for,  the  noble  school  which  he  was  now  with 
equal  zeal  extending  and  strengthening.  One  thing  is  quite  as- 
surred,  that  the  College  was  kept  well  before  the  eyes  of  the 
community,  and  if  publicity  would  bring  success  it  was  bound 
to  attain  it.  But  however  this  may  be,  these  influences  were 
not  all  salutary,  for  seeds  were  now  sown  which  brought  forth 
such  malevolent  fruit  in  1779,  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  his 
giving  in  the  exitements  of  the  day  that  constant  and  complete 
attention  to  the  furtherance  of  his  curriculum,  which  it  and  the 
institution  it  served  might  seem  to  require. 

The  first  commencement  was  hoped  for  in  the  Spring  of 
1756.  In  the  Gazette  of  29  April,  1756,  it  is  noticed  :  "On 
Friday  se'ennight  at  Ten  o'clock  in  the  Morning,  the  public 
Examinations  of  Candidates  for  Degrees  in  the  College  of  Phil- 
adelphia will  be  begun  in  the  Public  Hall,  and  continued  that 


282        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Day  and  the  Day  following."  No  reference  to  this  finds  place 
in  the  Trustees'  proceedings,  and  it  was  probably  deemed  better 
to  await  conferring  the  first  degrees  of  the  College,  until  after  the 
aspirants  had  some  training  in  the  Scheme  of  liberal  Education 
which  the  Provost  had  about  this  time  submitted  for  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Board.  At  their  meeting  of  27  December,  1756, 
it  was  "  ordered  that  an  exact  Catalogue  of  the  Youth  at  present 
in  each  of  the  Schools  be  prepared  by  the  Clerk  and  presented 
to  the  Trustees  at  the  next  meeting,"  which  was  submitted  and 
we  find  it  "  inserted  in  the  Minute  Book  by  order  of  the  Trus- 
tees "  at  the  meeting  of  5  March,  1757.  Those  who  had  now 
earned  their  Degrees  are  not  included.  The  Philosophy  school 
had  twelve  pupils,  the  Latin,  sixty,  the  Mathematical  twenty- 
two  and  the  English  thirty-one.  This  first  roll  of  students  is 
worthy  of  recording  here  as  we  find  the  names  entered  in  due 
order  on  the  minute  book. 

The  following  List  of  the  Youth  belonging  to  the  College  and  Acad- 
emy of  Philadelphia  is  inserted  in  the  Minute  Book  by  Order  of  the 
Trustees. 

PHILOSOPHY  SCHOOL. 

SENIOR  CLASS.  JUNIOR  CLASS. 

John  Allen  Samuel  Keene 

Andrew  Allen  John  Chew 

James  Allen  Philemon  Dickinson 

Joseph  Reade  Alexander  Lawson 

John  Morris  William  Paid  [Paca  ?] 

Samuel  Powell 
Abraham  Walton 

LATIN  SCHOOL. 

Benjamin  Baynton  James  Murray 

Thomas  Bond  Samuel  Morris 

John  Cadwalader  William  Greenway 

Lambert  Cadwalader  Tench  Tilghman 

Thomas  Mifflin  Joel  Evans 
Lindsay  Coates 

Robeson  Yorke  John  Luke 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       283 


John  Stevens 

Alexander  Wilcox  [Wilcocks  ?] 

William  Gibbes 

Richard  Peters 

James  Cruikshank 

William  Kinnersley 

Hugh  Hughes 

Mark  Grime 

John  Searle  M'Call 

Andrew  Hamilton 

William  Hamilton 

Jasper  Yeates 
Henry  Darler 
John  Neilson 
George  Thomson 
John  Murgatroyd 

Samuel  Inglis 
Thomas  Lawrence 
Samuel  Nicholas 
Perry  Frazier  Child 
Robert  Strettell  Jones 
John  Okill 
John  Diemer 
Henry  Elves 


Francis  More 
Benjamin  Alison 
Anthony  Morris 
John  Johnson 
Thomas  Coombe. 

Thomas  Hopkinson 
James  Huston 
George  Rundle 
George  Davis 
William  White 
Thomas  Murgatroyd 
James  Sayer 

John  Johnson 

John  Bennezett  [Benezet|r] 

Edward  Welch 

John  Ord 

William  Davis 

William  Hockley 

John  Reade 

Samuel  Correy 

George  Ogle 

Philip  Francis 

Amos  Denormandie  [Andrew^} 


MATHEMATICAL  SCHOOL. 


Nathan  Comitage 

Cornelius  O'  Bryan. 

Henry  Benbrige 

Charles  Pratt 

James  Cools  [Coutts  ?] 

Thomas  Pratt 

John  Dunbavin 

Thomas  Plumsted 

George  Emlen 

Thomas  Philips 

Nathaniel  Evans 

Samuel  Penrose 

James  Gorrel 

John  Sharpe 

John  Jepson 

John  Wilcocks 

John  Inglis 

John  Yeates 

Charles  Knight 

Andrew  Yorke 

Thomas  Mnybury 

William  Karst 

ENGLISH 

SCHOOL. 

Andrew  Bell 

Phineas  Bond 

James  Bingham 

Joseph  Conyers 

John  Bingham 

John  Deering 

284        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Richard  Duncan  Joseph  Syng 

George  Gostelowe  John  White  Swift 

Henry  Kepley  [Keppele?]  Thomas  Tresse 

Matthew  Jackson  John  Wooden 

Joseph  M'  Ilvaine  Thomas  Moore 

William  M'  Ilvaine  Thomas  Woodcock 

William  Merrifield  John  Fullerton 

George  Morgan  Alexander  Fullerton 

Robert  Montgomery  William  Falkner 

Lindley  Murray  John  Knox 

William  Rush  John  Montour 

Samuel  Smith  Richard  Stanley 
Gillis  Sharpe 


XLI. 

But  in  the  midst  of  preparations  for  the  long  looked-for  first 
Commencement,  the  Provost's  eloquence  as  a  preacher  brought 
to  him  an  invitation  for  another  of  his  special  sermons  from 
Colonel  Stanwix  who  was  about  starting  with  the  forces  under 
his  command  to  the  Frontiers.1  The  Colonel  and  his  command 
attended  in  Christ  Church  on  5  April,  1757,  when  William  Smith 
preached  his  Discourse  on  "The  Christian  Soldier's  Duty;  the 
Lawfulness  and  Dignity  of  his  Office  ;  and  the  Importance  of  the 
Protestant  Cause  in  the  British  Colonies,"  from  St.  Luke  iii.  14. — 
"such  are  the  words  which  were  recommended  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject of  this  discourse."2  It  is  an  able  argument  on  behalf  of  the 
Christian  Soldier's  Duty,  and  an  eloquent  plea  for  the  rightful- 
ness  of  human  warfare  under  circumstances  of  defense  and  op- 
pression, and  one  which  the  necessities  of  the  colony  at  the  time 

1  "  On  Tuesday  last  the  first  Battalion  of  the  Royal  American  Regiment  marched 
in  their  several  Companies  to  Christ  Church  in  this  city ;   where,  after  Prayers  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Jenny,  a  sermon  was  preached  to  them  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  Provost  of  the 
College,  at  the  request  of  their  officers.     As  the  subject  was  important,  there  was  a 
very  solemn  attention  in  all  present ;  and  the  Colonel  has  requested  that  the  sermon 
may  be  published,  which  will  be  done  with  all  possible  Expedition."    Penn.  Gazette, 
7  April,  1757. 

2  Discourses,  London  1759,  p.  97. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       285 

demanded.  "  I  will  pronounce  it,"  he  says  "  before  Heaven 
and  Earth,  that  from  the  days  of  our  Alfreds,  our  Edwards,  and 
Henries  downward,  the  British  sword  was  never  unsheathed  in  a 
more  glorious  cause  than  at  present." 

The  next  public  occasion  in  which  we  find  William  Smith  a 
participant  was  upon  the  arrival  in  the  province  of  William 
Denny,  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  as  successor  of  Governor  Mor- 
ris, from  whom  the  College  obtained  its  charter.  The  welcome 
accorded  to  Denny  was  warm  on  all  sides,  only  equalled  in  its 
force  by  the  disappointment  soon  caused  by  the  failure  of  his 
administration,  in  which  came  to  an  issue  the  contentions 
between  the  Proprietaries  whom  he  represented  and  the  Assem- 
bly, and  which  in  a  few  short  months  produced  that  mission  to 
England  in  which  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Isaac  Norris  were  dele- 
gated to  bear  the  plaints  of  the  Assembly  to  the  King.  Governor 
Denny  arrived  in  Philadelphia  21  August,  1756,  and  was  greeted 
with  sundry  addresses  from  various  bodies  of  citizens,  Franklin 
presenting  him  with  an  address  as  Colonel  of  the  Regiment  and 
Artillery  Company  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  and  with  one  in 
behalf  of  the  Hospital.  William  Smith  presented 

the  humble  address  of  the  Provost,  Vice  Provost,  and  Professors  of  the 
College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia.  *  *  *  Permit  us  to  recom- 
mend the  Seminary  of  Learning  under  our  care  to  your  Honour's  Protec- 
tion, hoping,  that  you  will  condescend  to  grant  the  same  Countenance  to  it, 
and  to  us,  which,  on  all  occasions,  we  have  been  honoured  with  from  your 
two  worthy  Predecessors  in  the  Government  ;  by  which  means,  and  the 
fatherly  care  of  the  Trustees,  its  Founders,  this  Institution,  thro'  the  Bless- 
ing of  God,  has  arrived  to  a  very  great  Degree  of  Perfection  ;  altho'  it  has 
hitherto  been  carried  on  under  many  Disadvantages  and  in  Times  that  have 
been  far  from  auspicious  to  the  Muses  or  the  softer  Arts  of  Peace. 

To  which  the  Governor  happily  said  in  his  response  : 

As  a  proper  Education  contributes  greatly  to  the  Advantage  of  Man- 
kind, you  may,  on  all  occasions,  rely  on  my  Countenance  and  Protection  ; 
and  be  assured  that  I  shall  think  myself  happy,  in  promoting  and  encour- 
aging so  laudable  an  institution.8 


3  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  26  August,  2  and  9  September,  1756. 


286        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XLII. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held  on  12  April,  1757, 
order  was  taken  for  the  first  commencement,  a  programme 
arranged,  and  the  time  named.  On  the  7th  of  the  month  the 
Gazette  announced  that  : 

The  Commencement  for  giving  Degrees  to  the  Senior  Class  of  Stu- 
dents in  the  College  of  this  City,  formerly  put  off  on  Account  of  the  Small 
Pox,  is  now  fixed  to  be  on  Tuesday  the  iyth  Day  of  May  next  :  which  will 
be  the  first  Commencement  that  has  ever  been  had  in  this  Seminary. 

At  the  meeting  of  10  May,  the  due  formality  was  observed 
of  the  Senior  Class,  Paul  Jackson,  James  Latta,  Hugh  William- 
son, Francis  Hopkinson,  John  Morgan,  Samuel  Magaw  and 
Jacob  Duche,  presenting  their  humble  petition,  that 

having  gone  through  our  Course  of  Studies  in  the  Sciences,  as  professed  in 
this  College,  and  having  performed  our  public  Exercises  and  been  publicly 
examined  as  Candidates  for  Degrees  in  your  Presence,  agreeable  to  Charter, 
do  now  humbly  request,  that  you  would  be  pleased  by  your  written  Man- 
date to  present  and  recommend  us  to  the  Provost,  Vice  Provost  and  Pro- 
fessors for  our  Admission  to  such  Degree  or  Degrees  as  as  we  are  entitled  to 
by  our  several  Standings  and  Proficiencies  in  this  Institution,  [which]  being 
considered  and  approved,  the  Trustees  accordingly  directed  the  Mandate 
to  be  issued. 

But  as  some  honorary  degrees  were  in  contemplation,  two 
Mandates  were  issued  to  the  Faculty.  The  first 

directing  the  Faculty  to  admit  Paul  Jackson  to  the  Degree  of  Master  of 
Arts,  and  Jacob  Duche,  Francis  Hopkinson,  Samuel  Magaw,  Hugh  Wil- 
liamson, James  Latta  and  John  Morgan  to  the  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 

And  the  second  to 

admit  Ebenezer  Kinnersley  Professor  of  English  and  Oratory  in  the 
Academy  and  Theophilus  Grew  Professor  of  Mathematics  to  the  Honorary 
Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  ;  and  Josiah  Martin,  now  Student  at  the  Temple, 
a  youth  of  promising  Genius  who  had  finished  the  requisite  Course  of 
Studies  in  order  to  the  Degree  of  Bachelor  in  the  Senior  Philosophy  Class 
of  this  College,1  and  Solomon  Southwickof  Rhode  Island,  who  without  the 


1  He  died  in  the  Island  of  Antigua  in  June,  1762,  and  Hopkinson  wrote  an 
Elegy  on  his  former  classmate.     Essays  and  Occasional  Writings,  iii.  70. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        287 

usual  Foundation  of  critical  Learning  and  Languages  discovered  an  apt- 
ness worthy  of  Encouragement  in  Mathematics  and  some  Branches  of 
Philosophy,  to  the  honorary  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts . 

The  programme  for  the  Commencement  was  announced  in 
the  Gazette  on  12  May,  1757,  and  was  as  follows  : 

A  PLAN  of  the  COMMENCEMENT  to  be  held  here  on  Tuesday  next, 
in  the  College  and  Academy  Hall. 

Prayers  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peters. 

A  Sermon  adapted  to  the  Occasion  by  the  Provost. 

A  Salutatory  Oration  by  Mr.  JACKSON.     And 

A  Thesis  to  be  defended. — This  closes  the  forenoon. 
In  the  afternoon. 

Three  other  Theses  to  be  defended. 

Then  the  Degrees  are  to  be  conferred. 

Some  Orations  are  to  be  spoken  by  some  of  the  Students  who  have 
been  admitted  to  Degrees  ;  and  a  Valedictory  Oration  to  be  spoken  by  Mr. 
JACOB  DUCHE. 

N.  B.  To  avoid  Confusion,  the  Gallery  Door  will  be  opened  at  Half 
an  Hour  past  Nine,  and  the  Business  of  the  Day  will  begin  precisely  at 
Ten  in  the  forenoon,  and  at  Three  in  the  afternoon. 

We  can  imagine  the  interest  of  the  occasion  to  all  who 
were  concerned  in  it,  and  which  enabled  the  friends  of  the  insti- 
tution to  attend  what  was  practically  an  All-day  Commence- 
ment. Such  however  was  the  custom  of  the  period,  and  it 
lived  in  some  of  the  American  Colleges  into  the  times  of  the 
present  generation.  The  Trustees  saw  the  crowning  of  their 
eight  years'  effort  in  the  public  graduation  of  their  first  class  ; 
the  Provost  and  the  Faculty  the  successful  issue  of  their  Liberal 
plan  of  Education  in  fitting  their  young  men  for  the  "  Com- 
mencement "  of  their  matured  lives  ;  and  the  young  men  them- 
selves were  impressed  with  the  dignity  and  responsibility  of 
being  the  first  to  earn  the  honors  of  their  Alma  Mater,  and  they 
were  men  who  each  of  them  in  his  life  of  usefulness  attained 
such  eminence  and  displayed  such  worth,  as  to  have  united  in 
making  their  class  not  only  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  insti- 
tution but  unexcelled  in  point  of  average  distinction  and  renown 
by  any  of  its  successors. 

The  Minutes  afford  us  no  record  of  this  day's  festivities, 
nor  does  the  Gazette  make  any  reference  to  the  proceedings,  as 


288        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

in  some  subsequent  Commencements.  The  Trustees  were 
present  with  but  one  notable  exception,  for  Benjamin  Franklin 
had  sailed  a  month  before  on  his  mission  to  England  represent- 
ing the  Assembly's  complaint  on  the  subject  of  the  Proprietaries' 
claims.  Dr.  Peters  was  announced  to  open  the  services  with 
Prayer,  but  he  had  not  been  present  at  the  meeting  of  12  May 
nor  does  his  signature  appear  on  the  Mandates.  The  Provost's 
sermon  was  from  the  text  Psalm  ii.  8,  "  On  the  Planting  the 
Sciences  in  America,  and  the  Propagation  of  Christ's  Gospel 
over  the  untutored  Parts  of  the  Earth,"  and  is  the  Fifth  in  the 
Discourses  of  I/59-2  This  eloquent  Sermon  we  have  already 
drawn  upon  for  the  Provost's  explanation  of  the  term  Philoso- 
phy as  applied  in  his  Curriculum.  He  sets  out  with  two  propo- 
sitions : 

First  to  observe  to  you  that  the  propagation  of  Science  (thro*  the 
establishment  of  seminaries  of  Learning  on  this  continent)  will  probably 
be  the  most  effectual  human  means  of  accomplishing  so  glorious  an  end 
[the  conversion  of  the  heathen]. 

Secondly,  in  this  view  of  things — and  surely  I  can  find  none  higher — 
to  bespeak  your  continued  favor  and  protection  of  this  infant  Seminary.  [And 
later,  proceeds  in  his  argument :]  Having  shewn  the  subserviency  of  Human 
Science  to  the  advancement  of  Christianity,  and  that  the  plan  of  education, 
pursued  in  this  Seminary,  cannot  fail,  thro'  Divine  grace,  to  be  a  means  of 
spreading  a  thirst  for  heavenly  wisdom;  what  need  I  add  more,  to  bespeak 
your  continued  favour  and  protection  of  it?  Surely  it  cannot  be  indifferent 
to  you,  whether  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  his  blessed  Gospel  shall  be 
spread  over  this  continent,  or  not?  Surely  it  cannot  be  indifferent  to  you, 
whether  your  own  children  should  be  bred  up  in  ignorance;  or  whether 
they  shall  shine  in  every  moral  excellence,  the  glory  of  their  country  and 
a  light  to  the  world  around  them  ?  You  must  know  the  relation  in  which 
you  stand  to  them,  and  the  account  which  you  will  one  day  be  required  to 
give  of  their  tender  years. 

Oh  !  then,  in  the  first  place,  I  beseech  you,  let  their  minds  be  sea- 
soned with  useful  knowledge,  and  cherish  this  infant  Seminary  for  their 
benefit,  and  the  benefit  of  millions  that  are  to  come  after  them.  For  what- 
ever business  you  may  design  them,  the  education  they  will  receive  here 
will  not  only  prepare  them  for  that,  but  also  for  a  life  of  general  virtue. 


2  It  is  printed  as  Part  II  of  the  Sixth  in  the  Discourses  of  1762;  but  does  not 
appear  as  such  in  the  Works  of  1803.  It  may  here  be  noted  that  the  quotations 
which  follow  are  taken  from  the  copy  of  the  Discourses  of  1759  owned  by  Dr. 
Franklin. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        289 

If  you  intend  them  for  the  noble  Profession  of  the  Law,  to  be  the 
protectors  of  the  innocent  and  the  advocates  of  justice;  the  best  foundation 
will  be  a  love  of  humanity,  and  such  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature 
and  general  rights  of  mankind  as  they  will  obtain  here.  If  for  the  service 
of  the  state,  the  same  will  hold  good.  The  man  best  acquainted  in  the 
nature  of  civil  government,  the  just  bounds  of  authority  and  submission, 
and  the  universal  principles  of  equity  and  virtue,  will  always  be  the  ablest 
Politician  and  firmest  Patriot  Again,  if  they  are  to  follow  the  healing  art 
of  Physic,  the  knowledge  of  mathematics  and  the  various  branches  of 
Natural  Philosophy,  will  be  the  best  introduction.  If  proposed  for  the 
Ministry  of  the  blessed  Gospel,  it  has  been  already  observed  that  every 
human  science  ought  to  lend  its  aid,  and  kindle  a  love  of  wisdom. 

If  other  arguments  were  necessary  to  induce  you  to  the  cultivation  of 
knowledge  and  the  support  of  this  Institution,  I  might  display  to  you  the 
wonderful  change  which  the  Sciences  have  produced  in  the  state  of  every 
country,  where  they  have  been  received.  Tho'  they  have  not  been  able 
wholly  to  eradicate  tyranny,  yet  they  have  always  crushed  and  mitigated  t 
influence;  inspiring  humanity,  love  of  moral  excellency,  and  every  softer 
virtue. 

But  why  should  I  bring  instances  from  other  countries,  when  one  of 
the  most  illustrious  is  before  our  eyes  ?  This  polished  and  flourishing  city  ! 
What  was  it  fourscore  years  ago  ?  Even  its  foundations  \vere  not  then  laid ; 
and  in  their  place  was  one  depth  of  gloomy  wilderness  !  This  very  spot, 
this  Seat  of  the  Muses — where  I  have  now  the  honour  to  stand,  preaching 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  surrounded  with  men  excelling  in  every  valuable 
accomplishment,  and  youth  rising  after  their  great  example —  had  I  seen  it 
then,  what  should  I  have  found  it  ?  A  spot  rank  with  weeds  perhaps,  or 
the  obscure  retreat  of  some  lawless  and  gloomy  savage. 

O  glorious  change  !  O  happy  day  !  that  now  beholds  the  Sciences 
planted  where  barbarity  was  before  !  that  now  sees  this  Institution  at  length 
brought  to  such  perfection,  as  to  extend  the  Laurel  to  her  first  worthy  sons! 
how  ought  such  advancements  in  knowledge;  to  rejoice  every  heart  among 
us,  but  especially  you  the  founders  and  patrons  of  this  excellent  Seminary, 
who  now  begin  to  taste  some  of  the  chief  fruits  of  your  pious  labors. 

This  sermon  affords  us  some  insight  into  the  display  of 
religious  influences  in  the  College  : 

Tho'  its  wide  and  generous  foundation  allows  equal  indulgence  to 
Protestant  denominations  of  all  sorts,  without  adopting  the  particular 
modes  of  any  ;  yet  there  is  not  a  greater  regard  paid  to  religion,  pure 
evangelical  religion,  in  any  seminary  in  the  world  than  here. 

We  have  forms  of  prayer,  peculiarly  well  adapted  to  our  own  cir- 
cumstances, twice  every  day  ;  and  the  morning  is  always  begun  with  read- 


29  o       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ing  some  portion  of  the  holy  scriptures  ;  all  which  is  done  before  the  whole 
youth  assembled.  And  when  they  have  arrived  at  their  highest  progress 
in  Philosophy  and  Science,  we  are  far  from  instructing  them  to  think  that 
their  education  is  finished.  On  the  contrary,  we  strive  to  shew  them  the 
connexion  between  the  precepts  of  sound  reason  and  the  morality  of  the 
Gospel  ;  and  teach  them  that,  when  Human  Science  has  done  its  utmost, 
it  is  from  this  last  source  that  they  must  complete  their  knowledge  and 
draw  superior  wisdom.  Nor  do  we  now  find  our  labors  difficult  in  this 
respect.  For  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  Sciences,  as  is  mentioned 
above,  is  so  far  from  damping  the  ardor  of  religious  knowledge,  that  it  is 
inflamed  more  and  more  thereby  ;  which  is  one  convincing  argument  of 
the  strong  and  immediate  connexion  between  them. 

We  are  not,  then,  surprised,  when  of  the  seven  graduates 
on  this  occasion,  we  see  four  of  them  entering  the  ministry, 
Duche  and  Magaw,  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  Williamson 
and  Latta  of  the  Presbyterians. 

For  the  second  part  of  the  Commencement  exercises,  the 
Provost  reserved  his  "  Charge,  Delivered  in  the  Afternoon  of 
the  same  Day,  to  the  Candidates  who  obtained  their  Degrees," 
which  he  opens  with  a  reference  to  their  freedom  from  the 
University  tests  of  the  old  country  : 

You  now  appear  as  candidates  for  the  first  honors  of  this  institution. 
The  free  spirit  that  it  breathes  permits  us  not  to  bind  you  to  us  by  the 
ordinary  ties  of  oaths  and  promises.  Instead  thereof,  we  would  rely  on 
those  principles  of  virtue  and  goodness  which  we  have  endeavored  to  cul- 
tivate. *  *  *  You  are  now  about  to  step  into  life,  and  embark  in  all 
its  busy  scenes.  It  is  fit,  then,  that  you  should  make  a  pause — a  solemn 
pause — at  its  portal,  and  consider  well  what  is  expected  from  you,  and 
how  you  are  prepared  to  perform  it.  *  *  *  Let  no  part  if  your  future 
conduct  disgrace  the  lessons  you  have  received,  or  disappoint  the  hopes 
you  have  so  justly  raised  !  Consider  yourselves,  from  this  day,  as  distin- 
guished above  the  vulgar,  and  called  upon  to  act  a  more  important  part  in 
life  !  strive  to  shine  forth  in  every  species  of  moral  excellence,  and  to 
support  the  character  and  dignity  of  beings  formed  for  endless  duration  ! 
The  Christian  world  stands  much  in  need  of  inflexible  patterns  of  integrity 
and  public  virtue  ;  and  no  part  of  it  more  so  than  the  land  you  inhabit. 
*  *  *  If,  then,  you  regard  the  credit  of  this  institution,  which  will 
travail  in  concern  for  you,  till  you  are  formed  into  useful  men  ;  if  you 
regard  your  own  credit,  and  the  credit  of  the  many  succeeding  setts  of 
youth,  who  may  be  hied  to  glory  by  your  example  ;  let  your  conduct  in 
the  world  be  such,  at  least,  as  to  deserve  the  applause  of  the  wiser  and  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        291 

better  part  of  it.  Remember  you  are  the  first  who  have  received  the 
honors  of  this  Seminary.  *  *  Think,  then,  what  pain  it  would  give  us, 
should  we  be  disappointed  in  you,  our  first  and  most  hopeful  sons. 

This  forms  an  admirable  Chapter  of  Counsel,  suitable  for  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  Youth,  and  for  all  times,  and  is  made 
impressive  by  the  earnestness  of  youth  with  its  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, for  it  must  be  remembered  that  William  Smith  had  not 
yet  attained  his  thirtieth  birthday.  And  closing  with  fervor,  he 
adapted  the  words  Polonius  gave  to  Laertes  to  this  occasion, 

Farewell !  my  blessing  season  this  in  you. 

This  Charge  was  printed  by  Franklin  and  Hall  in  pamphlet 
form,  which  included  also  Paul  Jackson's  Latin  Salutatory.  In 
his  preface,  the  Provost  says  : 

Whether  the  Partiality  of  Private  Friendship  has  made  the  Author 
of  the  following  charge  too  Sanguine  in  favor  of  the  young  gentlemen  to 
whom  it  was  delivered,  Time  will  best  show.  *  *  *  other  specimens 
might  also  be  produced,  which  would  redound  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the 
other  young  gentlemen,  were  anything  further  necessary  than  the  ample 
Testimony  they  have  already  received  from  an  institution  which  '  tis  hoped 
will  never  prostitute  its  Honours  to  the  Undeserving. 


292        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


XLIII. 

But  William  Smith  was  not  "  too  Sanguine  in  favour  of 
the  young  gentlemen,"  who  formed  the  first  graduating  class 
and  which  proved  such  an  exemplar  to  its  successors.  Their 
individual  merits,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  made 
them  the  first  children  of  this  Alma  Mater,  call  for  some  notice 
here  before  we  proceed  further  in  our  narrative. 

PAUL  JACKSON,  who  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  the  son  of 
Samuel  Jackson  of  Oxford,  Chester  County,  who  died  in  1768, 
proceeded  at  once  to  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  the  first 
possessor  of  it  on  the  University  roll,  became  a  Tutor  in  the 
Academy  in  April,  1/52,  and  on  13  April,  1756,  was  appointed 
the  Professor  of  Languages,  and  though  thus  a  member  of  the 
Faculty  became  an  alumnus  with  the  Master's  degree.  To  him 
was  accorded,  as  we  have  seen,  the  honor  of  the  Latin  Saluta- 
tory at  the  Commencement.  But  within  two  years'  time  his 
health  began  to  fail,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  9  May, 
1758,  it  was  voted  that  "  Professor  Jackson,  for  sometime  past, 
having  found  himself  consumptive,  requested  of  the  Trustees 
his  Discharge  from  the  care  of  the  Latin  School,  and  their 
Interest  with  the  Governor  to  obtain  for  him  a  Commission  in 
the  Levies  now  raising  for  the  Expedition  against  Fort  Duquesne. 
At  his  pressing  Instance,  they  not  only  consented  to  his  Dis- 
charge, but  those  of  the  Trustees  who  were  members  of  the 
Governor's  Council,  recommended  him  for  a  Captain's  Com- 
mission, which  the  Governor  conferred  on  him,  and  they  have 
taken  it  into  consideration  how  his  Place  shall  be  supplied  ;  " 
which  was  done  by  the  appointment  the  month  following  of  Mr. 
John  Beveridge.  When  Mr.  Coleman  desired  release  from  being 
Clerk  to  the  Trustees,  Mr.  Jackson  was  appointed  1 1  July, 
1755,  to  succeed  him — much  to  the  regrethowever  of  the  reader 
of  Mr.  Coleman's  clerkly  and  well  written  Minute.  He  lived 
but  ten  years  after  graduation,  and  he  lies  buried  at  St.  Paul's, 
Chester,  Pa.,  with  the  inscription  on  his  stone  :  "  Here  lies  Paul 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       293 

Jackson,  A.  M.  ;  he  was  the  first  to  receive  a  degree  in  the 
College  of  Philadelphia  ;  a  man  of  virtue,  worth  and  knowl- 
edge ;  died  1767,  aged  36  years."  l 

JACOB  DUCHE,  jr,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1737,  the  son 
of  Col.  Jacob  Duche,  an  eminent  citizen  of  that  city  and  a 
vestryman  of  Christ  Church.  We  have  already  known  him  as 
a  pupil  of  the  Academy,  where  also  for  fifteen  months,  from 
May  1753  to  August  1754,  he  served  as  Tutor.  In  the  month 
of  July  following  his  graduation  he  accompanied  Governor 
Denny  as  a  clerk  on  his  visit  to  Easton  in  pursuit  of  an  Indian 
treaty,  Richard  Peters  being  of  the  party.  Intending  to  seek 
orders  in  the  Church  of  England,  he  crossed  the  ocean  and 
entered  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop 
of  London  II  March,  1759,  returned  home  the  following 
September,  and  on  1 1  December  was  unanimously  appointed 
Professor  of  Oratory  in  the  College  and  Academy,  and  was 
made  an  Assistant  Minister  at  Christ  Church.  In  1762  he  was 
again  in  England,  and  received  Priest's  Orders  on  12  September. 
When  Dr.  Peters  resigned  in  1775  the  Rectorship  of  Christ 
Church,  in  which  he  had  succeeded  Dr.  Jenney,  Mr.  Duche  was 
unanimously  chosen  Rector  of  the  united  churches  of  Christ 
Church  and  St.  Peter's.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher,  and  a 
fervent  reader  of  the  liturgy.  His  interest  in  local  politics  was 
second  only  to  that  of  his  former  Provost,  and  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Revolution  he  took  part  with  the  patriots,  and  on  7  Sep- 
tember, 1774,  was  called  upon  to  open  the  Continental  Congress, 
meeting  in  Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia,  with  prayers,  an  event 


1  "  Little  is  known  of  his  early  life  except  that  he  was  a  close  student,  a  deep 
thinker  and  a  man  of  great  natural  ability.  He  became  prominent  as  a  physician, 
soldier  and  linguist,  and  was  Chief  Burgess  of  Chester  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
was  made  Professor  of  Languages  in  the  College  the  year  of  his  graduation,  and  sub- 
sequently became  one  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  the  colonies.  His  Latin 
compositions  which  were  published  gave  him  a  wide  reputation.  His  studious  appli- 
cation impaired  his  health,  and  when  General  Forbes  led  the  expedition  against  Fort 
Duquesne,  he  was  appointed  on  May  11,  1756,  captain  of  the  3rd  battalion  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Regiment.  The  rugged  life  of  a  soldier  restored  his  general  health, 
and  after  the  return  of  his  regiment  he  attended  the  '  Royal  Hospital.'  and  acquired 
his  knowledge  of  medicine.  He  could  not  have  received  a  regular  degree  as  there 
were  none  conferred  in  the  Colonies  until  1768."  Dr.  J.  L.  Forwood  in  Proceedings 
Delaware  County  Historical  Society,  J  May,  1896. 


294       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

which  forms  one  of  the  most  striking  pictures  in  the  march  of 
the  Revolution.  Samuel  Adams  wrote  of  this  to  his  friend  Dr. 
Warren  : 

As  many  of  our  warmest  friends  are  members  of  the  Church  of 
England,  I  thought  it  prudent,  as  well  as  on  some  other  accounts,  to  move 
that  the  service  should  be  performed  by  a  clergyman  of  that  denomination. 
Accordingly  the  lessons  of  the  day  and  prayer  were  read  by  the  Reverend 
Doctor  Duche,  who  afterwards  made  a  most  excellent  extemporary  prayer, 
by  which  he  discovered  himself  to  be  a  gentleman  of  sense  and  piety,  and 
a  warm  advocate  for  the  religious  and  civil  rights  of  America. 

John  Adams  wrote  also  and  warmly  of  this  to  his  wife  : 

It  seemed  as  if  Heaven  ordained  that  Psalm  to  be  read  on  that  morn- 
ing [Psalm  XXXV,  being  the  opening  Psalm  in  the  Psalter  appointed  for 
the  day  of  the  month] .  After  this  Mr  Duche,  unexpectedly  to  everybody, 
struck  out  into  an  extemporary  prayer,  which  filled  the  bosom  of  every 
man  present.  *  *  *  Episcopalian  as  he  is,  Dr  Cooper  himself  never 
prayed  with  such  fervor,  such  ardor,  such  earnestness  and  pathos,  and  in 
language  so  elegant  and  sublime,  for  America,  for  the  Congress,  for  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  especially  the  town  of  Boston. 

On  ii  May,  1775,  the  second  Congress  meeting  in  the 
State  House,  Mr.  Duche  again  "  performed  Divine  Services," 
for  which  he  was  unanimously  voted  their  thanks.  Duche  was 
present  with  his  Vestry  and  presided  at  the  meeting  at  his  house, 
on  4  July,  1776,  when  they  requested  the  Rector  and  Assistant 
Ministers  of  the  united  churches  to  omit  the  petitions  in  the 
Liturgy  for  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  as  inconsistent  with  the 
action  had  by  Congress  resolving  to  declare  the  American 
Colonies  to  be  free  and  independent  States.  On  8  July  he 
was  appointed  Chaplain  to  Congress  with  a  direction  to  attend 
on  them  every  morning  at  nine  o'clock,  "  in  consideration  of 
his  piety,  as  well  as  his  uniform  and  zealous  attachment  to  the 
rights  of  America."  This  he  resigned  on  17  October. 

But  when  the  British  entered  Philadelphia  at  the  close  of 
the  following  year,  his  heart  failed  him,  and  the  beautiful  picture 
of  his  devotion  in  1775  and  1776  to  his  country  became  pain- 
fully marred,  and  was  made  significant  by  a  weak  letter  to 
Washington,  which  the  latter  was  charitable  enough  "to  suppose 
was  rather  dictated  by  his  fears  than  by  his  real  sentiments."' 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        295 

This  man  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  faithful  in  all 
social  relations,  of  a  winning  influence  in  the  community,  was  yet 
without  firmness  in  the  hour  of  his  country's  trial,  for  which  he 
had — strange  inconsistency — offered  such  fervent  prayers  to 
Heaven.  His  brother-in-law  Francis  Hopkinson  writes  him  : 

Our  intimacy  has  been  of  a  long  duration,  even  from  our  early  youth; 
long  and  uninterrupted  without  even  a  rub  in  the  way;  and  so  long  have 
the  sweetness  of  your  manners  and  the  integrity  of  your  heart  fixed  my 
affections. 

In  December  following  Duche  sailed  for  England,  and  his 
wife  and  family  followed  in  1780. 

In  1779  Mr.  Duche  published  two  volumes  of  Sermons, 
and  in  time  he  received  the  appointment  as  Chaplain  of  the 
Asylum  in  St  George's  Fields.  He  sought  a  return  to  Phila- 
delphia at  the  close  of  the  war,  but  it  was  not  encouraged,  as 
time  alone  could  allay  the  bitter  feelings  aroused  among  his  old 
people  by  his  course  in  1777.  Yet  when  William  White  went 
to  England  for  consecration  in  1787  he  sought  out  his  former 
Rector  and  Pastor,  who  was  present  at  Lambeth  on  4  February 
to  witness  the  consecration  of  White  and  Provoost.  When  he 
returned  finally  to  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1792,  he  was  the  guest 
of  Bishop  White,  during  which  time  the  latter  arranged  his  visit 
to  President  Washington  who  had  been  apprised  of  it  and  con- 
sented to  it.  He  died  3  January,  1798,  and  was  buried  in  St. 
Peter's  churchyard.  Of  his  oratorical  powers  Bishop  White 
records  : 

The  next  best  reader  of  the  Prayers  [after  Whitefield],  within  the 
sphere  of  the  acquaintance  of  the  present  writer,  was  a  gentleman  already 
mentioned  under  the  head  of  preaching,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Duche.  He  was 
perhaps  not  inferior  to  Mr  Whitefield  in  the  correctness  of  his  pronuncia- 
tion. His  voice  was  remarkably  sweet;  although  short  of  the  voice  of  the 
other  gentleman  in  the  compass  of  its  powers,  and  especially  in  modula- 
tion. Mr  Duche  was  frequently  oratorical  in  his  sermons,  but  never  so  in 
the  reading  of  the  prayers;  although  always  read  by  him  with  signs  of 
unaffected  seriousness  and  devotion.2 


2  Commentaries  Suited  to  Occasions  cf  Ordination,  New  York,  1833,  p.  183; 
On  his  memorising  his  sermons,  caused  by  near  sightedness,  v.  p.  169.  ''The  only 
clergyman  here  known  to  have  derived  advantage  from  memorising  his  sermons 


296       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

And  as  a  tribute  .to  his   personal  attractions,  the  Bishop  further 
says,  when  speaking  of  his  own  consecration  : 

The  recollection  of  the  benefit  which  I  had  received  from  his  instruc- 
tions in  early  life,  and  a  tender  sense  of  the  attentions  which  he  had  shown 
me  almost  from  my  infancy,  together  with  the  impressions  left  by  the  har- 
mony which  had  subsisted  between  us  in  the  discharge  of  our  joint  pastoral 
duty  in  Philadelphia,  being  no  improper  accompaniments  to  the  feelings 
suited  to  the  present  very  interesting  transaction  of  my  life.3 

Mr.  Duche  was  the  first  alumnus  to  enter  the  Trusteeship 
of  his  College,  being  elected  10  February,  1761,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  made  by  Mr.  Martin's  death.  His  attendance  at  the 
meetings  was  constant,  and  his  counsel  and  influence  must  have 
been  felt,  for  as  pupil,  tutor,  and  professor  he  was  thoroughly 
informed  as  to  the  needs  of  the  College  and  was  ready  at  all 
times  to  further  the  plans  of  the  Provost.  The  last  meeting  he 
attended  was  on  28  June,  1777 — from  that  date  to  25  Septem- 
ber, 1778,  "there  were  no  regular  meetings  of  the  Board  on 
account  of  the  State  of  public  affairs,  nor  any  Minutes  taken", 
as  the  city  was  then  in  possession  of  the  British  army. 

FRANCIS  HOPKINSON  was  born  Philadelphia  on  21  September 
(o.  s.),  1737,  the  son  of  Thomas  Hopkinson,  a  Trustee  of  the  Col- 
lege and  Academy,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  has  already  been  given 
in  a  preceding  page.  His  talents  for  literature  and  music  must 
early  have  displayed  themselves,  and  his  mother  who  had  been 


adequate  to  the  pains  taken,  was  the  late  Rev  Jacob  Duche,  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia. 
When  he  began  his  ministry  in  Christ  Church  of  that  city,  his  voice,  his  pronuncia- 
tion, and  his  action,  were  immediately  subjects  of  great  commendation  ;  but  he  had 
the  disadvantage  of  nearness  of  sight.  In  a  short  time,  however,  he  was  observed  to 
lay  by,  almost  entirely, the  help  of  his  manuscript;  his  notice  of  which,  when  it 
happened,  became  visible  to  the  congregation ;  as  he  had  to  bring  his  face  very  near 
to  the  cushion  on  which  his  sermon  lay.  This  amiable  gentleman  had  a  very  extra- 
ordinary talent  for  that  particular  exercise  of  the  memory,  to  which  he  was  thus  incited. 
There  are  many  still  living  who  know  with  what  ease  he  prepared  himself  in  this 
department.  And  he  has  often  been  heard  to  acknowledge,  that  it  would  have  been 
generally  impossible  to  him,  a  few  days  after  the  delivery  of  a  sermon,  to  have  recited 
a  single  paragraph  of  its  contents.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  manifested  no  signs  in  the 
pulpit,  of  his  being  there  puzzled  in  the  work  of  recollection.  And  this  circumstance, 
added  to  what  has  been  said  of  his  voice,  and  the  praise  due  to  the  correctness  of  his 
action,  made  his  delivery  exceedingly  pleasing."  From  "  A  Commentary  on  the 
Duties  of  the  Public  Ministry  "  in  the  Quarterly  Theological  Magazine,  Philada,  for 
January,  1814,  p.  129. 

3  Memoirs  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  New  York.  1836,  p.  137. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       297 

left  a  widow  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  wisely  continued 
him  at  the  Academy,  of  which  he  was  the  first  scholar,  and  in 
the  course  of  his  tuition  there  we  have  already  seen  what  a 
prominent  place  he  earned  in  all  the  public  exercises.  In  his 
declamation  of  1753,  and  his  poem  on  the  death  of  his  fellow  stu- 
dent, young  Martin,  in  1754,  we  see  the  beginnings  of  those  abili- 
ties which  were  carefully  cultured  to  bear  fruit  to  his  good  repu- 
tation in  after  years.  Graduating  in  1757,  he  took  his  Masters' 
Degree  in  1760,  and  his  musical  attainments  added  a  charm  to 
the  services  of  the  day.  An  organ  had  first  been  fitted  up  in 
the  Hall  by  kind  friends  for  the  use  of  the  College,  and  we  are 
told 

one  of  the  Students,  who  received  his  Master's  Degree  on  this  occasion, 
conducted  the  organ  with  that  bold  and  masterly  Hand,  for  which  he  is 
celebrated;  and  several  of  the  Pieces  were  also  his  own  Composition.4 

After  graduation  he  began  the  study  of  Law  under  Benjamin 
Chew,  Attorney  General,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1761. 
In  1759  he  had  become  secretary  of  the  Library  Company,  and 
was  its  Librarian  from  February  1764  to  May  1765.  He  was 
also  Secretary  of  the  Vestry  of  the  United  Churches  of  Christ 
Church  and  St.  Peters'  in  1764—5,  and  was  elected  a  Vestryman  in 
1769,  serving  to  1773  when  his  residence  in  Trenton  severed 
his  connection  with  the  church  ;  but  resuming  his  residence  in 
Philadelphia  he  was  again  elected  Vestryman  in  1788  serving 
thereon  until  his  death.  He  displayed  his  talent  in  vocal  and 
instrumental  music  by  leading  the  choir  and  playing  the  organ  in 
Christ  Church,  as  well  as  teaching  the  children  "in  the  art  of 
psalmody,"  for  which  the  Vestry  recorded  their  thanks,  3  April, 


4  Penna  Gazette,  15  May,  1760. 

5  He  wrote  to  Dr  Franklin,  13  December,    1765,  "  I  visited  your  Family  the 
Day  before  Yesterday  &  put  Miss  Sally's  Harpsichord  in  the  best  order  I  can  but  the 
instrument,  as  to  its  Touch  &  all  machinery,  is  entirely  ruined  &  I  think  past  Recovery 
*     a     *     But  we  will  talk  more  about  this  next  Spring.     I  have  finished  the  Trans- 
lation of  the  Psalms  of  David  to  the  great  Satisfaction  of  the  Dutch  Congregation  at 
New  York  &  they  have  paid  me  ^145,  their  currency,  which  I  intend  to  keep  as  a 
Body  Reserve  in  case  I  should  go  to  England."     MS  letter  in  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society's  Collection.    1  he  work  referred  to  was  "  The  Psalms  of  David  with 
The  Ten  Commandments.  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer.  &c  In  Meter.    Also  the  Catechism. 
Confession  of   Faith,   Liturgy,  &c,  translated  from  the  Dutch  For  the  use  of    the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New  York."  New  York.   Printed 

by  James  Parker  at  the  New  Printing  Office  in  Beaver  Street,  MDCCLXVI. 


298       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

An  opportunity  offering  for  a  visit  to  England,  he  sailed 
thither  in  May,  1766.  An  affectionate  tribute  to  his  merits  were 
given  before  his  sailing  by  the  Trustees,  which  would  serve  him 
as  a  special  academic  letter  of  credit  in  his  proposed  travels  ; 
before  separating  from  the  Commencement  exercises  of  20  May, 
1766,  their  Minutes  recite  : 

After  the  Business  of  the  Commencement  was  finished,  it  was  resolved, 
that  as  Francis  Hopkinson,  Esqr,  (who  was  the  first  Scholar  entered  in  this 
Seminary  and  its  opening,  and  likewise  one  of  the  first  who  received  a 
Degree)  was  about  to  embark  for  England,  and  has  done  Honour  to  the 
Place  of  his  Education  by  his  abilities  and  good  morals,  as  well  as  ren- 
dered it  many  substantial  Services  on  all  public  occasions,  the  Thanks  of 
this  Institution  ought  to  be  delivered  to  him  in  the  most  affectionate  and 
respectable  manner.  And  Mr  Stedman  and  the  Provost  are  desired  to 
communicate  the  same  to  Mr.  Hopkinson  accordingly  and  to  wish  him  a 
safe  and  prosperous  Voyage. 

In  London,  which  he  reached  late  in  July,  he  expected  to 
meet  Franklin,  his  father's  friend,  but  the  latter  was  then  in 
Germany.  In  intercourse  with  the  Bishop  of  Worcester  his  rela- 
tive and  with  Benjamin  West  in  London,  he  passed  many  happy 
days  6and  remained  in  that  city  until  June,  1767.  He  returned 
home  in  August  following.  Marrying  in  1768  a  daughter  of 
Joseph  Borden,  jr.,  of  Bordentovvn,  he  resided  half  of  the  year 
at  that  place,  until  his  interests  grew  there  and  those  in  Phila- 
delphia lessened,  and  in  1774  was  called  to  a  seat  in  the  Pro- 
vincial Council  of  New  Jersey.  But  the  current  for  Liberty  took 
him  along,  and  he  threw  himself  into  the  movement  for  inde- 
pendence, and  became  a  member  from  New  Jersey  of  the  new 
Congress,  and  on  2  July,  1776,  voted  in  favor  of  the  Resolution 


6  He  writes  thence  to  Dr.  Franklin  from 

"  Hartlebury  Castle,  May  3 1st,  1767. 
' '  My  dear  Sir 

"  I  have  once  more  the  Pleasure  of  writing  to  you  from  this  delightful  Place ; 
where,  I  thank  God,  I  enjoy  perfect  Health  and  all  the  Pleasures  the  Country  can 
afford.  Time  rolls  away  in  the  most  agreeable  Manner  imaginable  :  Reading,  walk- 
ing, riding,  Music,  Drawing,  &c,  season  the  Hours  with  much  calm  and  rational 
Pleasure ;  and  to  crown  all,  the  good  Bishop  and  Mr.  Johnson  treat  me  with  all 
possible  Affection  and  Kindness.  Yet  after  all  (such  is  my  Partiality  for  dear  Philada. 
and  my  Friends  there)  that  I  must  say  it  is  with  great  Delight  I  look  forward  to  the 
Time  of  my  Embarkation."  Addressed  "  Dr  Franklin,  at  Mr  Stevenson's  Craven 
Street,  London."  MS.  letter  in  the  American  Philosophical  Society  Collection. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        299 

for  Independence.  7  When  the  British  sought  revenge  in  the 
Jerseys  by  destroying  the  houses  of  the  principal  Whigs,  when 
their  movement  in  Philadelphia  by  that  course  proved  a  failure, 
and  in  which  the  Borden  Mansion  fell  a  victim  to  the  flames, 
Hopkinson's  house  was  also  fired,  but  escaped  destruction  in  a 
singular  manner.  It  is  related  that  Captain  Ewald,  a  Hessian 
officer,  who  was  in  command  of  the  party  of  British  employed  in 
firing  the  houses,  entering  Hopkinson's  was  amazed  to  find  his 
library  filled  with  scientific  apparatus  in  addition  to  the  books  on 
the  walls  ;  and  picking  up  a  volume  of  Provost  Smith's  Dis- 
courses, he  wrote  in  his  Mother  tongue,  "This  man  was  one  of 
the  greatest  rebels,  nevertheless,  if  we  dare  to  conclude  from 
the  Library,  and  Mechanical  and  Mathematical  Instruments,  he 
must  have  been  a  very  learned  man  ;  "  and  he  spared  the  house 
from  the  flames. 

He  was  at  Bordentown  when  the  melancholy  tidings 
reached  him  of  Duche's  defection,  and  thence  he  wrote  to  him 
his  letter  of  wounded  affection  and  yet  patriotic  scorn,  which  he 
sent  under  cover  to  Gen.  Washington  : 

The  Intimacy  of  my  connection  with  Mr  Duche  renders  all  assurance 
unnecessary  that  the  letter  addressed  by  him  to  your  Excellency  on  the  8th 
of  October  last  year  gives  me  the  greatest  concern.  *  *  *  I  would  not 
forbear  communicating  some  of  my  sentiments  to  him  on  this  occasion. 
These  I  might  probably  have  been  able  to  convey  to  him  by  secret  means, 
but  did  not  chuse  to  incur  the  imputation  of  a  clandestine  correspondence. 
I  have  therefore  taken  the  liberty  to  send  the  enclosed  letter  to  you  unsealed 
for  your  perusal.  Resting  it  entirely  on  your  judgement  to  cause  it  to  [be} 
forwarded  or  not.  *  *  *  The  occasion  is  a  very  interesting  one  to  me. 
My  friendship  for  Mr  Duche  calls  upon  me  to  do  all  I  can  to  warn  him 
against  the  fatal  consequences  of  his  ill-advised  step,  that  he  may  if  possi- 
ble do  something  to  avert  them  before  it  is  too  late. 

But  the  letter  never  reached  its  destination,  Washington 
writing  him  27  January,  1778  : 


7  It  was  shortly  after  this  he  and  John  Adams  met ;  the  latter  writing  to  his 
wife  from  Philadelphia  21  August,  1776,  says:  "  I  met  Mr  Francis  Hopkinson,  late 
a  Mandamus  Counsellor  of  New  Jersey,  now  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
who,  it  seems  is  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  a  sou  of  a  prothonotary  of  this  county,  who 
is  a  person  much  respected.  The  son  was  liberally  educated,  and  is  a  painter  and  a 
poet.  I  may  possibly  give  you  some  more  particulars  concerning  him."  Letters  to 
his  Wife,  Boston,  1841,  i.  157. 


3OO        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Having  never  found  an  opportunity  of  conveying  the  Letter  which 
you  sometime  ago  sent  me  for  Mr  Duche,  by  such  a  channel  as  I  thought 
would  reach  him,  I  return  it  to  you  again. 

In  September,  1776,  Hopkinson  was  appointed  Third 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Jersey.  This  he  held 
until  he  accepted  the  Treasurership  of  the  Continental  Loan 
Office,  an  office  under  Congress.  From  this  he  became  Judge 
of  the  Admiralty  by  appointment  of  President  Reed  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  was  16  July,  1779,  commissioned  thereto,  thus 
filling  an  office  honorably  occupied  by  his  Father  nearly  thirty 
before.  In  September,  1789,  Washington  appointed  him  United 
States  Judge  for  the  District  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  1 787  he  was  an  active  and  able  partici- 
pant, and  with  his  zeal  and  force  aided  in  its  final  adoption. 

His  political  influence  was  largely  aided  by  his  skillful  pen, 
which  was  of  a  genial  cast  while  witty  and  pungent,  and  the 
cultivation  of  measured  verses  in  early  youth  stood  him  in  good 
stead  when  he  wanted  to  hold  up  to  ridicule  the  Tory  cause. 
His  Pretty  Story,  1774,  his  Political  Catechism  of  1777,  his 
Battle  of  the  Kegs  in  1777,  his  New  Roof  of  1787,  and  other 
pieces  make  his  valuable  contribution  to  the  political  literature 
of  the  times.  But  with  softer  strains  his  poetic  qualities  showed 
themselves  in  hymns  and  domestic  ballads,  and  his  musical 
talent  found  exercise  in  the  composition  of  hymn  tunes  which 
are  to  this  day  familiar  to  our  ears.  His  Miscellaneous  Essays 
and  Occasional  Writings  were  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1793, 
"  in  the  dress  in  which  he  left  them."  Thomas  I.  Wharton  wrote 
of  him,  "  a  poet,  a  wit,  a  patriot,  a  chemist,  a  mathematician, 
and  a  judge  of  the  admiralty  ;  *  *  with  the  humor  of 

Swift  and  Rabelais,  he  was  always  found  on  the  side  of  virtue 
and  social  order."  John  Adams  wrote  to  his  wife  21  August, 
1776: 

I  have  a  curiosity  to  penetrate  a  little  deeper  into  the  bosom  of  this 
curious  gentleman.  He  is  one  of  your  pretty,  little,  curious,  ingenou  s 
men.  His  head  is  not  bigger  than  a  large  apple,  less  than  our  friend 
Pemberton  or  Dr.  Simon  Tuft.  I  have  not  met  with  anything  in  natural 
history  more  amusing  and  entertaining  than  his  personal  appearance  yet 
he  is  genteel,  and  well  bred,  and  is  very  social. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       301 

A  condescending  encomium  from  the  Boston  visitor,  who- 
now  in  the  metropolis  for  the  first  time  met  different  types  of 
men  hitherto  unknown  to  his  observation.8 

Francis  Hopkinson  died  suddenly,  of  apoplexy,  on  9  May, 
1791.  His  son  Joseph,  a  graduate  of  1786,  is  known  as  the 
author  of  Hail  Columbia,  our  patriot  song.  His  sister  Elizabeth 
was  the  wife  of  Rev.  Jacob  Duche  ;  and  Mary,  of  Dr.  John 
Morgan,  both  his  fellow  graduates.  His  brother  Thomas  was  a 
graduate  of  1766  and  later  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Four  generations  of  Hopkinsons,  in  lineal 
descent,  adorn  the  list  of  graduates  of  the  institution  which  their 
ancestor  the  first  Thomas  Hopkinson  aided  in  founding. 

JAMES  LATTA  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  of  Scotch-Irish  Stock, 
and  was  born  in  1732.  His  mother  was  an  Alison,  a  relative  of 
Dr.  Francis  Alison.  His  parents  came  to  this  country  when  he 
was  about  six  years  of  age  and  settled  near  Elkton,  Maryland. 
He  was  placed  at  school  to  his  kinsman,  Dr.  Alison,  at  New 
London,  Pennsylvania  ;  and  shortly  after  the  latter  went  to  Phila- 
delphia in  1752  to  begin  his  work  at  the  Academy,  young  Latta 
followed  him  thither  and  completing  his  course  there  graduated 
with  honor  in  the  class  of  I757.9  Before  the  completion  of  his 
course  he  was,  like  Williamson,  employed  as  Tutor  by  the 
Trustees  :  he  and  his  classmate  "  having  alternately  supplied  the 
Place  of  one  Usher  in  the  Latin  School  from  the  13  June  until 
the  i  November  [1755]  be  paid  after  the  rate  of  Sixty  Pounds 
per  Annum  for  their  attendance  during  the  above  Term,  and 
that  their  future  salaries  be  ascertained  at  the  next  meeting  of 
the  Trustees."  He  continued  Tutor  after  his  graduation  to  the 
end  of  the  year  1759,  and  when  Mr.  Jones  left,  in  July  1758,  he 
was  appointed  to  succeed  him  as  Clerk  to  the  Trustees.  He  was 
pursuing  meanwhile  his  studies  for  the  Ministry,  and  on  15 


8  Letters  to  his  Wife.     Ibid. 

9  Minutes  of  Dec.  1755.     Dr.  Sprague's  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit  gives 
a  letter  from  a  relative  of  Dr.   Latta  stating  that  he   had  the  Salutatory  oration  in 
Latin  at  the  Commencement;  but  the  publication  of  Paul  Jackson's  Latin  Salutatory 
with  the  Provost's  charge  disposes  of  this  statement. 


302        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

February,  1758,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Philadelphia.  His  connection  with  the  College  ceased  in 
November,  1759,  when  the  Synod  directed  him  to  go  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  destitute  settlements  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
he  having  been  ordained  a  few  weeks  before.  In  1761  he  was 
installed  as  Pastor  of  the  congregation  at  Deep  Run,  Bucks 
County,  Pennsylvania.  He  left  this  in  1 770  for  the  pastoral 
care  of  Chestnut  Level,  in  Lancaster  County,  and  was  there 
installed  in  November,  1771.  He  here  added  the  care  of  a 
school  to  his  many  duties,  for  which  he  was  well  fitted  by  his 
training  in  the  College.  During  the  revolutionary  war,  it  is  said 
he  accompanied  a  Pennsylvania  regiment  in  one  campaign  as 
chaplain.  He  was  alive  to  all  the  controversies  in  his  church 
during  these  years  of  trial,  and  an  active  participant  in  them,  and 
was  generally  on  the  side  of  progress.  When  the  subject  of 
introducing  Dr.  Watt's  Psalms  and  Hymns  into  public  worship 
disturbed  the  traditions  of  many  of  the  congregations,  he  advo- 
cated the  new  Psalmody,  and  in  the  controversy  issued  a  pam- 
phlet of  one  hundred  and  eight  pages  in  defense  of  the  new 
practice  ;  it  is  said  this  was  the  only  work  he  ever  published. 
The  Degree  of  D.D.  was  proposed  for  him  by  the  Trustees  in 
1799;  that  he  accepted  the  Degree  about  that  period  is  a  fact 
well  sustained,  yet  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  roll  of  any 
other  College  ;  but  as  we  have  the  record  of  its  proposal,  it  is 
right  to  assume  it  was  formerly  conferred  upon  him,  though  we 
fail  to  find  record  of  its  consummation.  He  died  29  January, 
I  So  I,  aged  77  years.  He  married  about  the  year  1765,  Miss 
Mary  M'Calla  of  Deep  Run.  Of  his  children  there  were  four 
sons,  all  of  whom  entered  the  ministry  ;  of  these  three  were 
graduates  of  the  University,  Francis  Alison  in  1790,  William, 
1794,  and  John  Ewing  in  1795.  Dr.  Samuel  Martin's  Memoir 
of  him,  says  : 

Dr  Latta  was  remarkably  well  qualified.  Without  severity,  he  had 
the  faculty  of  governing  well.  He  possessed  the  happy  talent  of  making 
his  pupils  both  fear  and  love  him.  *  *  *  As  a  scholar,  too,  he  had 
few  equals  ;  his  erudition  was  general  and  profound.  Such  were  his  known 
abilities,  and  such  his  reputation  as  an  instructor,  that  when  any  of  his 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.       303 

pupils  were  sent  to  the  University  over  which  the  late  Dr  Ewing  presided, 
who  has  been  so  deservedly  famed  as  a  scholar,  they  were  always  received 
without  examination.  It  was  sufficient  to  know  they  had  received  their 
education  with  Dr  Latta  *  *  *  It  was  indeed  almost  impossible  to  be 
long  in  his  company  without  being  both  pleased  and  improved.  Both  old 
and  young  were  fond  of  his  society.  When  paying  a  visit  to  any  of  his 
people,  it  was  pleasing  to  see  the  youth  gather  around  him  to  enjoy  his 
conversation.  *  *  *  He  was  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  every 
duty.  And  with  such  dignity  did  he  support  the  sacred  office  which  he 
bore,  that  there  was  scarce  ever  an  instance  of  any  person  conducting  him- 
self profanely  or  rudely  in  his  presence. 

SAMUEL  MAGAW  was  born  in  1735,  the  same  year  with  his 
classmates  Morgan  and  Williamson.  We  know  little  of  his 
early  life.  Graduating  in  1757,  he  received  his  Master's  degree 
from  the  College  in  1760.  He  soon  made  preparations  for  the 
ministry,  and  with  John  Andrews  of  the  class  of  1765,  the 
Provost  of  1810,  he  went  to  England  for  Orders,  bearing  a  letter 
from  Provost  Smith  dated  13  November,  1766,  introducing  them 
to  the  Bishop  of  London  :  "I  cannot  now  let  the  Bearers,  Mr. 
Samuel  Magaw  and  Mr.  John  Andrews  go  without  a  few  lines. 
They  were  educated  and  graduated  under  me  and  I  hope  in 
Examination  will  do  credit  to  our  College."  On  18  December, 
Dr.  Smith  wrote:  "My  last  to  your  Lordship  was  by  Mr. 
Andrews  and  Mr.  Magaw,  both  educated  in  our  College,  since 
which  another  Mr.  Edmiston10  educated  with  them  has  sailed 
from  Maryland  on  the  same  errand.  I  hope  it  will  appear  to  your 
Lordship  that  they  are  all  well  grounded  in  their  education."11 
Magaw  and  Andrews  were  ordained  Deacons,  2  February,  1767 
in  St.  James'  Chapel, [Westminster,  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Davids' 


10  «  \Villiam  Edmiston,  class  of  1759.     He  was  ordained  15  March,  1767,  and 
priest  on  the  agthat  St.  James,  Westminster,  by  the  Bishop  of  Oxford,  acting  for  the 
Bishop  of  London.     On  his  return  to  Philadelphia  he  did  not  at  once  present  his 
letters  in  Maryland,  owing  to  the  hesitation  of  the  colonial  authorities  in  accepting 
the  Bishop  of  London's  licenses.     See  Bishop  White's  reference  to  tfcis,  Memoirs. 
p.  19       He   became    Rector   of  St.    Ann's,  Annapolis,   and  later  of  St.  George's. 
Spesutia ;  but  his  Tory  activities  lost  him  the  latter  and  in  September,  1775,  he  went 
to  England.     Dr.  Ethan  Allen's  Historical  Notes  of  St.  Ann1  s  Parish,  p.  79.      The 
name  is  variously  spelled,  Edmiston,  Edminston,  Edmonson. 

11  Perry's  Historical  Collections,  ii.  412,  413.     Smith,  i.  403. 


304       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  Priests  on  the  I5th  of  the  same  month  by  the  Bishop 
of  London.  Returning,  Magaw  was  a  missionary  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  at  Dover 
and  its  vicinity,  Delaware.  He  became  Rector  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Philadelphia,  in  January  1781,  in  which  duty  he  con- 
tinued until  1804  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Pilmore.  He 
was  elected  Vice-Provost  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  in  1782,  but  his  functions  ceased  when  the  merger 
was  made  into  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1791,  Dr. 
Andrews  then  becoming  Vice-Provost  and  Provost  in  1910.  Dr. 
Magaw  took  an  active  part  in  the  various  Assemblies  of  his 
Church  in  Pennsylvania,  in  Conventions  and  Societies ;  and 
held  a  conspicuous  place  in  all  their  deliberations  ;  and  pub- 
lished some  Sermons,  one  of  which  was  preached  at  the  open- 
ing of  St.  Thomas'  Church  for  Colored  People  in  1794.  "In  the 
latter  part  of  his  time  he  became  deaf  and  was  retired.  He  was 
a  man  above  the  average,  of  great  ability  and  learning."  He 
died  i  December,  1812.  He  left  behind  him  a  memory  of 
amiability  in  deportment  and  faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  all 
his  duties. 

JOHN  MORGAN,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1736.  His  father 
was  a  near  neighbor  of  Franklin's.  His  early  education  devel- 
oped in  him  a  great  aptitude  to  study.  He  acquired  the  rudi- 
ments of  his  classical  learning  at  the  Nottingham  Academy  of 
Dr.  Finley's,  who  was  afterward  President  of  Princeton  College  ; 
and  entering  as  one  of  the  first  pupils  of  the  Academy  in  Phila- 
delphia he  graduated  in  1757.  During  the  last  year  of  his 
attendance  here,  he  pursued  his  medical  studies  under  Dr.  John 
Redman.  Desirous  of  surgical  practice  in  the  field,  he  was 
commissioned  lieutenant  and  surgeon  of  the  Provincial  Troops, 
and  served  against  the  French  and  Indians  until  1760.  Taking 
his  Master's  Degree  at  the  College  in  this  year,  he  went  to 
Europe  to  pursue  yet  further  his  medical  studies.  He  passed 
some  years  abroad,  attending  for  two  years  the  Lectures  at  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  taking  his  degree  there  in  1763, 
While  in  London  attending  the  Lectures  of  Dr.  William  Hunter 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       305 

he  was  in  intimate  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Franklin,  and  on  his 
going  to  Edinburgh  he  bore  a  letter  from  him  to  Lord  Kames, 
dated  London,  November,  1761,  in  which  he  says  : 

May  I  take  the  freedom  of  recommending  the  bearer,  Mr  Morgan,  to 
your  Lordship's  protection.  He  purposes  residing  some  time  in  Edinburgh, 
to  improve  himself  in  the  study  of  physic,  and  I  think  will  one  day  make 
a  good  figure  in  the  profession,  and  be  of  some  credit  to  the  school  he 
studies  in,  if  great  industry  and  application,  joined  with  natural  genius  and 
sagacity,  afford  any  foundation  for  the  presage.  He  is  the  son  of  a  friend 
and  near  neighbor  of  mine  in  Philadelphia,  so  that  I  have  known  him  from 
a  child,  and  am  confident  the  same  excellent  dispositions,  good  morals, 
and  prudent  behavior,  that  have  procured  him  the  esteem  and  affection  of 
all  that  knew  him  in  his  own  country,  will  render  him  not  unworthy  the 
regard,  advice,  and  countenance  your  Lordship  may  be  so  good  as  to  afford 
him. 

Dr.  Morgan  from  Edinburgh  went  to  Paris,  and  there 
passed  a  winter,  still  enlarging  his  medical  studies,  and  after- 
wards traveled  in  Holland  and  Italy.  Upon  his  return  to  Lon- 
don he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  was 
admitted  a  licentiate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  London, 
and  a  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  Edinburgh,  and 
had  been  admitted  to  membership  in  the  Society  of  Belles 
Lettres  in  Rome. 

Thus  furnished  by  study  and  travel,  and  with  the  earlier 
field  hospital  service,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  1765.  He 
had  written  from  London  in  November,  1764,  to  Dr.  Cullen  : 
"  My  scheme  of  instituting  lectures  you  will  hereafter  know 
more  of.  It  is  not  prudent  to  broach  designs  prematurely,  and 
mine  are  not  yet  fully  ripe  for  execution."  These  he  had  talked 
over  with  the  younger  William  Shippen,  his  schoolmate  at  Not- 
tingham, when  they  were  a  year  or  more  together  in  Edinburgh.12 
Shippen  had  returned  home  in  May,  1762,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  began  his  private  course  of  lectures,  his  introductory 


11  Dr.  Shippen  in  his  letter  to  the  Trustees  of  17  September,  1765.  says:  "  I 
should  have  long  since  sought  the  Patronage  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  but 
waited  to  be  joined  by  Dr.  Morgan,  to  whom  I  first  communicated  my  plan  in  Eng- 
land " 


306        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

being  delivered  in  the  State  House.13  His  courses  proved  to  be 
the  introductory  to  the  larger  scheme  of  Dr.  Morgan  which 
became  the  Medical  School  of  the  College  and  Academy  of 
Philadelphia.  Dr.  Morgan  had  formed  his  plans  maturely,  and 
upon  the  counsel  and  advice  of  his  friends  abroad.  He  arrived 
home  early  in  1765,  and  at  a  Special  Meeting  of  the  Trustees 
called  for  3  May,  1765,  there  attended  among  others  both  the 
Doctors  Bond,  Dr.  Cadwalader,  and  Dr.  Redman,  now  a  Trustee 
and  Morgan's  old  preceptor,  when  the  following  letter  was  read 
from  the  Proprietary.  This  letter,  with  its  wise  recommenda- 
tions seems  the  herald  of  the  new  Medical  Department,  in  the 
account  of  which  it  may  properly  belong,  yet  it  is  so  full  of  per- 
sonal references  to  the  young  Surgeon  who  had  taken  counsel 
with  Governor  Penn  on  the  subject  so  near  his  heart,  that  it 
seems  to  belong  in  a  sketch  of  his  life. 

Gentlemen. 

Doctor  Morgan  has  laid  before  me  a  Proposal  for  introducing  new  Pro- 
fessorships into  the  College  for  the  Instruction  of  all  such  as  shall  incline  to 
go  into  the  Study  and  Practice  of  Physick  and  Surgery,  as  well  as  the 
several  Occupations  attending  upon  these  necessary  and  useful  Arts. 

He  thinks  his  scheme,  if  patronized  by  the  Trustees,  will  at  present 
give  Reputation  and  Strength  to  the  Institution,  and  tho'  it  may  for  some 
Time  occasion  a  small  Expence,  yet  after  a  little  while  it  will  gradually 
support  itself,  and  even  make  considerable  additions  to  the  Academy 
Funds. 

Dr  Morgan  has  employed  his  Time  in  an  assiduous  Search  after 
Knowledge,  in  all  the  Branches  necessary  for  the  Practice  of  his  Profession, 
and  has  gained  such  Esteem  and  Love  from  Persons  of  the  first  Rank  in  it, 
that  as  they  very  much  approve  his  Plan,  they  will,  from  Time  to  Time,  as 
he  assures  us,  give  him  their  Countenance  and  Assistance  in  the  Execution 
of  it. 

We  are  made  acquainted  with  what  is  proposed  to  be  taught,  and  his 
Lectures  may  be  adopted  by  you,  and  since  the  like  Systems  have  brought 
much  Advantage  to  every  Place -where  they  have  been  received,  and  such 
Learned  and  eminent  Men  speak  favorably  of  the  Doctor's  Plan,  I  could 
not  but  in  the  most  kind  manner  recommend  him  to  you,  and  desire  that 
he  may  be  well  received,  and  what  he  has  to  offer  be  taken,  with  all  becom- 
ing Respect  and  Expedition,  into  your  most  serious  Consideration  ;  and  if 


13  See  his  announcement  in  the  Pennsylvania   Gazette  II  November,  1762,  of 
beginning  "a  course  of  anatomical  Lectures"  on  18  November. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       307 

it  shall  be  thought  necessary  to  go  into  it,  and  thereupon  to  open  Professor- 
ships, that  he  may  be  taken  into  your  service. 

When  you  have  heard  him,  and  duly  considered  what  he  has  to  lay 
before  you,  you  will  be  best  able  to  judge  in  what  Manner  you  can  serve 
the  Public,  the  Institution,  and  the  particular  Design  now  recommended  to 
you.  I  am 

Gentlemen 
London  Feb  15,  1765  Your  very  affectionate  Friend 

Thomas  Penn 
To  the  Trustees  of  the 
College  &c  of  Philada 

Dr.  Morgan  also  presented  a  letter  to  the  same  effect  "  by 
two  worthy  Trustees  of  this  College  now  in  England,  viz.:  The 
Hon'ble  James  Hamilton,  Esqr.  and  the  Revd  Mr.  Richard 
Peters."  And 

The  above  Letters  and  Proposals  being  duly  weighed,  and  the  Trustees 
entertaining  a  high  sense  of  Dr  Morgan's  Abilities,  and  the  Honors  paid  to 
him  by  different  Learned  Bodies  and  Societies  in  Europe,  they  unanimously 
appointed  Him  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physick  in  this 
College. 

Thus  was  created  the  Medical  Department  of  the  College, 
which  has  literally  fulfilled  Thomas  Penn's  words  in  giving 
"  Reputation  and  Strength  to  the  Institution."  The  history  of 
this  important  department  is  elsewhere  given,  and  while  to  it 
probably  belongs  the  official  life  of  Dr.  Morgan  which  adorned  it, 
we  must  pass  on  to  a  recital  of  other  events  in  his  life  in  which 
he  served  the  community  and  his  friends  ;  first  noting  that 
at  the  commencement  of  that  year,  viz.  on  30  May,  at  the 
"  Forenoon's  Exercises  "  came  "the  first  Part  of  Dr.  Morgan's 
inaugural  oration,"  and  "  the  weather  being  very  warm,  the 
remainder  was  adjourned  to  Friday  Forenoon,  31  May,"  and 
"  Dr.  Morgan  then  printed  the  remainder  of  his  learned  and 
elaborate  oration."  This  was  entitled  "A  Discourse  upon  the 
Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in  America,"  and  was  published  by 
William  Bradford  ;  it  was  a  significant  and  bold  venture  for  a 
young  man  of  but  twenty-nine  years  to  enter  upon  in  the  new 
country,  but  his  faith  and  courage  fitted  him  to  the  duty,  "  and 


308       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

hope  assured  success."  u  At  the  meeting  of  23  September 
following  a  letter  from  his  friend  Shippen  was  read,  applauding 
their  action  in  so  promptly  meeting  Dr.  Morgan's  views  and 
scheme  and  stating  to  them  "a  Professorship  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery  would  be  gratefully  accepted  by  him,"  to  which  they 
unanimously  appointed  him.  Thus  were  the  two  friends  united 
in  a  congenial  work  in  a  public  institution,  fulfilling  their  plans 
as  they  talked  them  over  during  the  interval  of  their  Edinburgh 
studies.  William  Shippen,  an  alumnus  of  Princeton  in  I/54,15 
had  not  the  claim,  though  a  Philadelphian,  upon  the  College  and 
the  Academy  of  this  city  that  its  own  John  Morgan  had,  who 
came  with  his  proposition  endorsed  by  the  highest  civil  influence 
known  to  the  province.  The  location  of  Morgan's  Alma  Mater 
in  the  largest  city  of  the  colonies  enabled  it  to  utilize  his  prac- 
tical schemes  and  secure  for  itself  the  honorable  distinction  o 
organizing  a  Medical  Department  in  advance  of  other  kin- 
dred institutions ;  but  Shippen  contributed  ideas  from  his 
own  well  stored  brain  and  trained  mind,  thoughts  and  sug- 
gestions which  helped  to  nourish  the  new  Department,  and  it 
was  but  just  that  Princeton  should  furnish  its  second  Pro- 
fessor. 

Dr.  Morgan  tells  us  when  he  returned  from  Europe,  he 
departed  from  the  customary  practice,  and  was  the  first 
physician  who  restricted  himself  to  simply  prescribing  for  the 
sick.  And  he  writes  : 

As  far  as  I  can  learn  everybody  approves  of  my  plan  for  instituting 
medical  schools,  and  I  have  the  honor  of  being  appointed  a  public  pro- 
fessor for  teaching  physic  in  the  College  here.  Can  any  man,  the  least 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  that  arduous  task,  once  imagine  it  possible 


14  A  Discourse  Upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  in  America  ;  Deliv- 
ered at  a  Public  Anniversary  Commencement  held  in  the    College  of  Philadelphia 
May  30  and y.,  1765.      With  a  Preface  Containing  among  other  things  the  Author 's 
Apology  for  attempting  to  introduce  the  regular  mode  of  practising  physic  in  Phila- 
delphia.    By  John    Morgan,    M.  D.  :  Fellow   of  the    Royal   Society    at    London  ; 
Correspondent  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Surgery  at  Paris  ;  Member  of  the  Arcadian 
Belles  Lettres  Society  at  Rome ;  Licentiate  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  in 
London  and  in  Edinburgh;  and  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in 
the  College  of  Philadelphia.     Philadelphia  :  Printed  and  Sold  by  William  Bradford 
at  the  corner  of  Market  and  Front  Streets  MDCCLXV. 

15  And  a  classmate  there  of  Provost  Ewing. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        309 

for  me  to  acquit  myself  in  that  station  in  an  honorable  or  useful  manner, 
and  yet  be  engaged  in  one  continued  round  of  practice  in  surgery  and 
pharmacy  as  well  as  physic  ?  *  *  *  My  usefulness  as  a  professor 
makes  it  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  follow  that  method  of  practice 
which  alone  appears  to  be  calculated  to  answer  that  end. 

Medical  science  alone  did  not  occupy  his  activities.  He 
was  an  interested  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society.  When  the  Trustees  sought  for  funds  from  the  learned 
and  the  educated  in  the  West  Indies,  Dr.  Morgan  was  their 
ambassador,  and  a  very  successful  voyage  he  made  thither, 
which  will  have  more  particular  notice  when  our  narrative 
reaches  that  period. 

In  October,  1775,  Congress  appointed  him  Director  in  Gen- 
eral and  Physician  in  Chief  to  the  General  Hospital  of  the 
American  army,  and  he  at  once  proceeded  to  Cambridge,  and 
from  thence  back  to  New  York.  His  reforming  spirit  in  admin- 
istration was  far  in  advance  of  the  times,  and  he  could  not 
overcome  the  crowding  difficulties  of  his  Medical  Bureau,  due 
to  inexperience  and  a  clinging  to  former  ways ;  clamors  arose, 
to  which  Congress  responded  by  removing  him  in  1777;  but 
on  a  subsequent  examination  by  Congress,  all  the  complaints 
were  found  entirely  without  foundation,  and  an  honorable 
acquittal  of  all  the  charges  made  against  him  rendered. 

He  died  in  Philadelphia  I  5  October,  1789,  and  was  buried  in 
St.  Peter's  Church.  It  was  the  year  of  his  return  from  Europe 
and  of  appointment  as  Professor,  that  he  married  Mary  Hopkin- 
son,  the  sister  of  his  classmate  Francis  Hopkinson,  whose 
elder  sister  Elizabeth  had  married  six  years  previously, 
another  classmate,  Jacob  Duche. 

HUGH  WILLIAMSON,  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage,  was  born 
in  Nottingham  Township,  Chester  County,  Penn.,  5  December, 
1735.  His  early  education  was  pursued  under  Dr.  Alison's  care 
at  New  London,  and  when  that  able  preceptor  became  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  Philadelphia  Academy  his  parents  sent  him  thither. 
His  proficiency  earned  him  a  Tutorship  as  early  as  July,  1755,  in 
which  he  continued  the  remainder  of  his  College  life.  His  father 


3io        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

died  the  year  of  his  graduation;  and  the  family  having  previous 
to  this  moved  to  Shippensburgh,  Williamson  made  this  his  resi- 
dence until  1759  when  he  went  to  Connecticut  to  prosecute  his 
theological  studies,  where  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  afterwards 
returning  to  Pennsylvania  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia.  His  health  however  was  not  robust ; 
and  he  was  unable  to  undertake  any  stated  ministerial  duty. 
We  find  him  again  resuming  his  connection  with  his  College. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  13  January,  1761, 

the  President  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  notwithstanding  that  repeated 
advertisements  had  been  published  in  the  Gazette  of  the  want  of  a  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  in  the  Academy,  and  he  had  wrote  to  some  of  his 
acquaintances  in  the  other  Colonies  to  enquire  if  there  was  any  fit  person, 
and  that  Dr.  Smith  had  likewise  made  enquiry  in  Maryland,  and  Dr 
Alison  at  Boston  and  other  Places  thro'  which  they  had  travelled  in  the 
Vacation,  yet  no  one  properly  qualified  could  be  heard  of.  In  this  exigency 
Dr.  Smith  had  wrote  to  the  Rev'd  Hugh  Williamson  one  of  the  late  Ushers 
in  the  Latin  School  (who  was  known  to  have  made  a  considerable  Progress 
in  the  Mathematics,  and  being  lately  ordained  among  the  Dissenters  yet 
at  present  was  not  in  the  Exercise  of  his  Function)  to  know  if  he  would 
undertake  the  Care  of  that  School,  upon  which  Letter  he  now  waited  upon 
the  Trustees  and  made  a  tender  of  his  services,  which  were  accepted 
and  in  case  he  should  upon  tryal  give  Satisfaction,  he  is  to  receive  One , 
Hundred  and  Twenty  five  pounds  per  annum  to  commence  from  the  Day 
on  which  he  shall  take  the  Charge  of  the  School. 

In  this  duty  he  continued  less  than  three  years,  and  at  the 
meeting  of  8  November,  1763  : 

desiring  admittance  he  came  in  and  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  he  could 
not  continue  much  longer  in  the  care  of  the  Mathematical  School,  having 
disposed  of  himself  some  other  way,  he  requested  they  would  as  soon  as 
conveniently  they  could,  provide  a  Master  for  it. 

And  action  was  had  looking  to  this  provision,  at  the  meet- 
ing of  13  December  "  Professor  Williamson  still  expressing  a 
desire  to  be  dismissed."  But  he  filled  out  the  College  term, 
and  parted  from  his  duties  10  May,  1764.  His  mathematical 
and  other  studies  made  no  obstacle  to  his  engaging  with  interest 
in  provincial  politics  ;  and  having  his  interest  enlisted  on  the 
Proprietaries'  side,  probably  from  sympathy  with  the  Provost's 
views,  he  replied  on  their  behalf  in  a  pamphlet  to  Franklin's 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        311 

Cool  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Situation  of  our  Public  Affairs 
published  early  in  1 764,  the  year  when  a  crisis  seemed  to  be  con- 
summating between  the  two  opposing  and  heated  parties.  But 
Williamson  was  himself  one  of  "the  proprietaries'  new  allies; 
the  Presbyterian  Clergy  of  Philadelphia,"  who  feared  that  the 
substitution  of  a  Royal  Government  for  that  of  the  Proprie- 
taries which  was  now  sought  by  the  popular  party  would  bring  a 
State  church  into  the  province,  and  openly  took  the  ground  that 
the  change  would  be  the  ruin  of  the  province, 16  and  what  was 
denied  to  him  in  public  speaking  or  preaching,  he  yet  could 
ably  set  forth  his  views  by  his  pen.  And  this  rejoinder  was 
followed  by  the  subsequent  contribution  to  the  political  litera- 
ture of  the  times. 

In  the  same  year  Williamson  crossed  the  ocean  in  order 
to  pursue  medical  studies  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh  and 
on  the  Continent.  He  remained  abroad  for  two l7  years,  and 
returning  to  Philadelphia,  began  the  practice  of  medicine,  his 
health  not  permitting  any  stated  ministerial  duties.  His  attain- 
ments in  science  were  great,  and  he  was  one  of  a  committee,  of 
whom  also  were  David  Rittenhouse,  Provost  Smith,  Dr.  Ewing, 
and  Charles  Thomson,  appointed  by  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  to  make  observations  of  the  transit  of  Venus  on  3  June, 
1769,  and  the  same  committee  was  instructed  also  to  view  the 
transit  of  Mercury  on  3  November  of  the  same  year.  The 
reports  of  these  observations,  in  which  Williamson  as  a  mathe- 
mation  had  a  large  share,  are  given  in  the  first  volume  of 


16  Franklin  in  his  Preface  to  Galloway's  Speech,  Bigelow,  iii.  310.     William- 
son's pamphlet  was  entitled  "  The  Plain  Dealer,  Number  n,  Being  a  Tickler  for  the 
leisure  Hours'  Amusement  of  the  Author  of  Cool  Thoughts,  Wherein  the  Tone  of 
his  several  Arguments  in  Favour  of   a  change  of   Government  is  stated  in  a  clear 
Light  and  accomodated  to  the  Comprehension  of  Readers  of  every  Capacity.     By 
X.  Y.  Z.  Gentleman."     In  Dr.  Smith's  preface  to   John  Dickinson's  speech  he  gave 
a  very  eulogistic    Epitaph  on  William   Penn.     In  Franklin's  preface  to  Galloway's 
speech,  he  burlesqued  this  and  applied  it  to   Richard   and  Thomas  Penn.     This  in 
turn  gave  rise  to   Williamson's   later  pamphlet:     "What  is    Sauce  for  the  Goose 
is  also  Sauce  for  a  Gander,  Being    A    small    Touch    in  the  Lapidary  Way,  or  Tit 
for  Tat,  in   your  own   Way.     An    Epitaph  on  a  certain   great    Man.     Written   by  a 
Departed  Spirit  and  now  most  inscrib'd  to  all  his  dutiful    Sons  and    Children,  who 
may  hereafter  chose  to  distinguish  him  by  the  name  of  A  Patriot."     Bibliography  of 
Fmnklin,  Ford,  393. 

17  With  Capt  Falconer  from    London,  came  passenger  Hugh  Williamson,  M. 
D.  belonging  to  this  Place.      Penna  Gazette,  II  Dec.,  1766. 


312       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  Transactions  of  the  Society  and  afforded  valuable  inform- 
ation to  the  foreign  correspondents  of  the  Society.  In  1770, 
Dr.  Williamson  published  through  the  same  channel  some  obser- 
vations on  the  change  of  climate  which  had  been  remarked 
within  a  range  of  years  to  have  taken  place  in  the  middle  colonies 
of  North  America.  This  and  other  scientific  investigations  of 
his  brought  him  the  notice  of  foreign  savants,  and  his  medical 
alma  mater,  Utrecht,  made  him  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1772,  and 
he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Holland  Society  of  Sciences,  and 
the  Society  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  Utrecht. 

In  1772  he  undertook  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  to 
raise  funds  for  the  Academy  at  Newark,  Delaware,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Dr  Alison's  school  of  which  in  early  life  he  had  been 
a  pupil,  and  of  which  he  was  a  Trustee  ;  and  in  the  year  fol- 
lowing in  company  with  his  co-Trustee,  Rev.  Dr.  Ewing,  after- 
wards Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  he  made  a 
tour  through  Great  Britain  on  the  same  errand,  and  in  this  duty 
they  remained  together  until  the  autumn  of  1775,  but  William- 
son did  not  return  home  with  Ewing.  He  then  travelled  through 
Holland  and  the  Low  Countries,  but  when  the  news  of  Ameri- 
can Independence  reached  him,  he  retraced  his  steps  and 
reached  Philadelphia  in  March,  1777.  The  story  which  had 
credence  for  a  number  of  years  that  it  was  through  his  agency 
the  Hutchinson  letters  were  procured  for  Franklin  who  sent 
them  to  Massachusetts,  and  which  is  yet  frequently  repeated,  is 
contradicted  by  the  fact  that  Dr.  Williamson,  at  the  time  of  Dr. 
Franklin  sending  those  Letters,  namely  in  December,  1772,  was 
at  the  time  in  the  West  Indies,  and  he  did  not  sail  for  England  as 
stated  above  until  December,  1773  ;  the  ship  he  sailed  in  from 
Boston  lay  in  the  harbor  ready  for  sail,  when  the  famed  Tea 
Party  took  place  on  that  eventful  night  of  16  December,  and 
he  was  the  first  one  to  communicate  to  the  British  Government 
the  tidings  of  this  decisive  destruction  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany's cargoes  of  tea. 

On  Dr.  Williamson's  return  to  Pennsylvania,  no  opportunity 
appeared  open  for  the  pursuit  of  his  profession,  and  turning  his  face 
southward  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits ;  but  his  medical 


HISTORY  OF- THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       313 

reputation  brought  to  him  in  the  winter  of  1779-80  the  appoint- 
ment of  chief  of  the  medical  department  of  the  North  Carolina 
troops;  he  was  present  at  the  Battle  of  Caniden  1 8  August, 
1780,  and  under  a  flag  of  truce  entered  the  enemy's  lines  to 
attend  to  the  wounded  when  the  regimental  surgeons  declined 
the  duty.  In  1782  he  became  a  member,  from  Edenton,  of 
the  North  Carolina  Assembly.  In  1787,  he  was  one  of  the 
delegates  from  that  State  to  the  Convention  which  framed  the 
Constitution  which  met  in  Philadelphia ;  and  he  was  a  member 
of  the  first  Congress  which  met  in  New  York  in  1787,  and  it 
was  while  here  he  married  Maria,  daughter  of  Charles  Ward 
Apthorpe,  formerly  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  New 
York.  In  1812,  appeared  his  History  of  North  Carolina  in 
two  volumes,  printed  in  Philadelphia.  Much  of  his  time  after 
this  was  passed  in  New  York.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  not- 
withstanding his  early  debility  and  in  despite  of  an  unusually 
active  and  busy  life  in  the  wanderings  of  a  cosmopolite,  and 
died  in  New  York,  22  May,  1819.  At  the  close  of  that  year 
his  friend  Dr.  Hosack  was  appointed  to  read  a  Biographical 
Memoir  of  Williamson  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society  ; 
he  describes  him  as 

no  less  distinguished  for  the  manliness  of  his  form,  than  for  the  energy 
and  firmness  of  his  mind.  Dr.  Williamson  in  his  person  was  tall,  consid- 
erably above  the  general  standard,  of  a  large  frame,  well  proportioned, 
but  of  a  thin  habit  of  body.  He  was  remarkable  for  his  erect,  dignified 
carriage,  which  he  retained  even  in  the  decline  of  life.  *  *  *  His 
style  both  in  conversation  and  in  writing,  was  simple,  concise,  perspic- 
uous and  remarkable  for  its  strength  ;  always  displaying  correctness  of 
thought  and  logical  precision.  In  the  order,  too,  and  disposal  of  his  dis- 
course, whether  oral  or  written,  such  was  the  close  connexion  of  its  parts, 
and  the  dependence  of  one  proposition  upon  that  which  preceded  it,  that 
it  became  easy  to  discern  the  influence  of  his  early  predilection  for  mathe- 
matical investigation .  *  *  *  Whatever  be  the  merits  of  Dr.  William- 
son as  a  scholar,  a  physician,  a  statesman,  or  philosopher  ;  however  he 
may  be  distinguished  for  his  integrity,  his  benevolence,  and  those  virtues 
which  enter  into  the  moral  character  of  man  ;  he  presents  to  the  world 
claims  of  a  still  higher  order.  The  lovers  of  truth  and  virtue  will  admire 
much  more  than  his  literary  endowments,  that  regard  for  religious  duty,  of 
which,  under  all  circumstances  and  in  all  situations,  he  exhibited  so 
eminent  an  example. 


314       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XLIV. 

The  commencement  of  1757,  with  all  the  satisfaction 
and  pleasure  it  brought  to  its  participants,  had  one  shadow, 
which  however  did  not  show  itself  at  once.  The  Provost's 
signature  to  the  diplomas  was  thought  sufficient  to  give  them 
force,  and  this  appeared  to  be  the  intent  of  the  Charter  of  1755, 
where  it  was 

Ordained,  That  the  Provost,  vice  provost,  or  other  person  appointed 
as  aforesaid,  shall  make,  and  with  his  name,  sign  diplomas  or  certificates 
of  the  admission  to  such  degree  or  degrees,  which  shall  be  sealed  with  the 
public  seal  of  the  said  corporation,  and  delivered  to  the  graduates  as  hon- 
ourable and  perpetual  testimonials  thereof. 

But  at  the  Trustees'  meeting  of  14  June,  the  Vice-Provost 
Alison,  and  Professors  Kinnersley,  Grew  and  Jackson  "  petitioned 
they  might  be  allowed  to  join  with  the  Provost  in  signing  the 
College  Diplomas,"  as  follows  : T 

Gentlemen.  The  Custom  as  far  as  we  know  or  can  learn  has  univer- 
sally obtained  in  other  Colleges,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  of  granting 
Diplomas  or  honourable  Certificates,  signed  as  well  by  all  the  Professors 
as  by  the  Provost  or  President.  The  Initiation  of  this  generally  received 
Mode  in  the  Diplomas  to  be  granted  in  this  College  will,  we  humbly  con- 
ceive, be  more  satisfactory  to  the  graduates,  who  will  no  doubt  chuse  to 
carry  with  them  the  most  express  and  ample  Proofs  of  the  Respect  and 
approbation  of  every  Professor  belonging  to  the  Institution  ;  more  reputable 
to  the  Vice  Provost  and  Professors  to  whom  it  may  be  of  some  advantage 
to  be  known  in  a  Way  that  will  carry  the  least  appearance  of  Vanity  or 
ostentation,  and  more  honourable  and  useful  to  the  Institution  itself  as  the 
Number  of  Professors  employed  in  it  and  their  names,  if  at  any  Time  they 
should  be  Men  of  Merit  and  Reputation,  which  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose,  may  be  of  service  to  engage  the  Notice  of  People  in  Distant  Parts 
and  by  that  means  to  add  to  the  Number  of  Students.  We  therefore  the 
Vice  Provost  and  Professors  of  this  College  and  Academy  humbly  petition 
the  Trustees  to  grant  us  by  a  Law  the  Privilege  of  joining  with  the  Provost 
in  signing  the  College  Diplomas. 


1  Francis  Hopkinson's  diploma  bears  the  autographs  of  the  Provost,  Vice 
Provost,  and  the  other  three  professors  ;  if  the  Provost's  was  originally  given  alone, 
and  thus  became  the  occasion  of  the  petitions,  this  action  of  the  Trussees  may  have 
secured  the  subsequent  affixing  the  signatures  of  the  others.  The  appearance  of  this 
document  seems  to  give  color  to  this  suggestion. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        315 

This  was  referred  to  Messrs.  Chew  and  Stedman  for  their 
opinion,  to  be  given  at  the  next  meeting,  and  on  12  July  their 
Report  was : 

The  Committee  on  considering  the  Charter  conceive  that  by  the  said 
Charter  it  is  not  necessary  that  Diplomas  should  be  signed  by  any  more 
of  the  Faculty  than  the  Provost  Yet  as  they  may  receive  additional 
Weight  and  Credit  by  being  signed  by  the  whole  Faculty,  and  no  Mischief 
or  Inconvenience,  that  we  apprehend  can  arise  from  such  a  Proceeding,  we 
are  of  Opinion,  that  the  whole  Faculty  should  on  this  occasion  be  admitted 
to  sign  with  the  Provost 

This  discreet  and  equitable  report  was 

read  and  referred  to  the  next  Meeting  of  the  Trustees,  in  Consequence 
thereof  Mr  Smith  requested  a  Copy  of  the  Petition,  which  the  clerk  was 
desired  to  make  out  and  deliver  to  him  as  soon  as  it  may  be  convenient 

But  no  action  was  reached  until  the  meeting  of  23  December, 
when 

the  Report  of  the  Committee  upon  the  Propriety  of  Diplomas  being  signed 
by  the  whole  Faculty,  entered  on  the  Minutes  of  12th  of  July  last,  is 
approved  by  the  Trustees. 

At  this  December  meeting  the  fees  for  graduation  were 
named  as  follows : 

A  Bachelor  shall  pay  to  the  College  Library ,£0.15.0 

A  Master  shall  pay  to  Do i.   o.o 

A  Bachelor  shall  present  to  the  Provost  at  least i.  o.o 

"  "  to  each  of  the  Professors  including  the 

Vice-Provost  under  whom  he  has  studied  since  his  entering 

the  College 0.15.0 

The  Keeper   of  the  Great  Seal  for  affixing  it  to  any  Diploma, 

honorary  ones  excepted  shall  have o.  10.0 

At  the  beginning  of  this  year,  at  the  meeting  of  1 1  January, 
the  Rate  of  Tuition  for  the  Students  in  Philosophy  was  "aug- 
mented to  ten  Pounds  per  Annum  *'  to  "  commence  at  the  End 
of  Three  Months  from  this  Date." 


316        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

BENJAMIN  CHEW,  who  drew  up  the  report  on  the  petition 
of  the  Vice-Provost  and  the  Professors,  was  elected  a  Trustee  on 
1 1  January,  1757,  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Zachary.  The  son  of  Dr.  Samuel  Chew,  he  was  born  at  his 
Father's  residence,  on  West  River,  Maryland,  29  November, 
1722.  He  was  young  when  his  Father  removed  to  the  Lower 
Counties.  After  completing  his  education,  he  entered  the  office 
of  Andrew  Hamilton,  the  Councillor,  but  the  latter  dying  in 
1741,  Chew  went  abroad  and  entered  the  Middle  Temple  in 
London.  He  returned  to  America  in  1743,  on  hearing  of  the 
death  of  his  Father,  and  was  admitted  an  attorney  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  in  September 
Term,  1746,  but  it  appears  did  not  practice  until  about  nine 
years  later.  His  residence  was  at  Dover,  Delaware,  and  in 
1751  he  was  included  in  the  Boundary  Commission  as  a  repres- 
tative  of  the  Lower  Counties.  He  removed  to  Philadelphia 
about  1754.  His  reputation  largely  exceeded  his  age,  and 
though  so  new  a  resident  of  Philadelphia  he  in  January  1755 
became  Attorney  General,  succeeding  Mr.  Francis,  and  in 
August  following,  became  Recorder  of  the  City.  And  at  the 
close  of  the  same  year  he  was  called  to  the  Governor's  Council, 
in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  following  Braddock's  defeat.  His 
was  a  busy  life,  filling  these  public  offices  ;  and  in  1765,  to  these 
were  added  that  of  the  Register-General  of  the  Province.  In 
1761  he  built  his  Mansion,  "Cliveden,"  at  the  then  outlying 
town,  Germantown.  When  William  Allen  resigned  the  Chief 
Justiceship  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1774,  Chew  was  appointed 
his  successor  on  29  April.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution 
these  offices  fell  with  the  Royal  authority,  which  was  their 
derivation,  though  his  continuance  as  Register-General  was 
made  necessary  by  force  of  circumstances,  and  his  acts  were  in 
1778  validated  by  the  Legislature.  As  a  suspect  he  was  under 
surveillance,  during  the  Revolution,  and  was  for  some  time 
under  arrest;  but  he  was  released  in  June,  1778,  and  remained 
at  his  house  in  peace  until  the  quietness  of  the  times 
removed  him  from  all  suspicion.  During  his  absence  his  house 
was  the  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Battle  of  Germantown,  Octo- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        317 

her,  17/7,  and  by  its  possession  a  handful  of  British  troops 
were  enabled  under  its  cover  to  detain  the  main  body  of  Ameri- 
cans in  its  attack  long  enough  to  prevent  the  consummation  of 
Washington's  plans  for  the  struggle  of  the  day,  to  ensure  the 
defeat  of  the  American  army.  In  October,  1791,  he  was 
appointed  Judge  and  President  of  the  High  Court  of  Errors 
and  Appeals  of  Pennsylvania,  and  these  he  held  until  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  court  in  1808.  He  died  20  January,  1810,  and  is 
buried  in  St.  Peter's  Churchyard.  Notwithstanding  his  accu- 
mulating duties,  he  gave  faithful  attendance  on  the  meetings  of 
the  Trustees,  and  from  his  acknowledged  judgment  and  learn- 
ing he  was  sought  on  many  of  the  special  committees,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  vexed  question  which  his  opinion  settled  in  July 
1757.  During  the  Revolutionary  period,  we  find  him  at  the 
meetings  of  January,  9  May,  3,  17  October,  1775  ;  April,  June, 
October,  1776;  5  June,  September;  November  1778;  and  in 
1779  from  March  quite  regularly  to  28  September.  He  was  not 
present  at  the  final  meetings  of  October  and  November,  1779, 
when  the  blow  of  destruction  was  impending ;  his  presence 
would  not  have  aided  the  unfortunate  institution  against  the 
attacks  of  the  party  who  sought  the  abrogation  of  its  charter. 
His  eldest  son  Benjamin,  a  graduate  of  1775,  became  a  Trustee 
in  1810.  The  latter's  sons  Benjamin  and  Samuel  were  gradu- 
ates of  1810,  John  of  1812,  Henry  Banning  of  1815,  William 
White  of  1820,  and  Anthony  Banning  of  1825  ;  while  a  grand- 
son of  Henry  B.  Chew  renews  the  link  as  a  graduate  of  1886. 
Chief  Justice  Chew  was  the  last  of  those  Trustees  whose 
office  dates  prior  to  the  first  Commencement.  Of  the  original 
twenty- four,  Logan,  Lawrence,  Zachary  and  Willing  had  died  ; 
Isaac  Norris,  who  had  succeeded  James  Logan,  resigned  in 
1755  ;  and  to  the  nineteen  original  Trustees  remaining  were  now 
added  Cadwalader,  Hamilton,  Stedman,  Mifflin  and  Chew.  Of 
the  original  number,  seven  were  Provincial  Councillors  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Logan,  Lawrence,  Turner,  Strettell,  Peters,  Taylor  and 
Hopkinson  ;  and  of  the  six  new  members,  five  were  also  Coun- 
cillors, Norris,  Cadwalader,  Hamilton,  Mifflin  and  Chew.  Allen, 
the  Recorder  of  the  City  at  the  organization  of  the  Trustees, 


318        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

became  Chief  Justice  the  year  following,  and  his  wife  was  the 
daughter  and  sister  of  Councillors.  Francis  was  Attorney  Gen- 
eral of  the  Province  at  the  time  of  the  organization,  and  in  1750 
succeeded  Allen  as  Recorder  of  the  City.  Masters  married  in 
1754  the  daughter  of  a  Councillor.  Zachary  was  the  grandson 
of  an  early  Councillor.  Franklin's  genius  and  leadership  found 
no  place  in  the  Council,  but  his  influence  was  greater  than  any 
such  seat  could  create,  for  he  was  the  foremost  man  in  the 
Province.  Of  the  rest,  Inglis,  M'Call,  Leech,  Shippen,  Syng, 
Willing,  the  two  Bonds,  Plumsted,  Maddox,  White,  Coleman 
and  Stedman  had  earned  for  themselves  eminence  in  the  com- 
munity as  merchants  or  professional  men.  Such  a  collocation 
of  men  of  provincial  note  and  influence  was  the  most  remark- 
able and  distinguished  ever  gathered  together  in  one  common 
work  in  this  Province  ;  and  as  such,  in  force  and  dignity  was 
perhaps  never  equalled,  certainly  never  excelled  in  any  of  the 
sister  Provinces  ;  and  all  this  was  in  the  cause  of  Education, 
and  the  men  were  inspired  and  united  in  their  work  by  one  who 
had  attained  to  a  high  appreciation  of  the  needs  of  the  Province 
in  this  direction,  and  yet  who  it  may  be  said  was  himself  with- 
out early  education  further  than  what  could  be  drawn  out  of 
the  materials  he  found  around  him  by  his  own  inborn  faith  and 
perseverence. 

The  period  of  Organization  of  the  College  and  Academy 
may  be  said  to  be  completed  on  the  graduation  of  the  first  class 
in  1757.  There  has  been  much  to  study  in  this  formative 
time,  in  both  men  and  methods,  and  its  picture  has  to  be 
drawn  with  more  measured  details  than  may  be  required  in  its 
subsequent  periods.  From  this  point  on  for  nearly  a  score  of 
years  we  may  designate  as  the  ante-Revolutionary  period.  The 
Institution  felt  the  influence  of  party  broils  and  wrangles  of  the 
time,  as  this  was  unavoidable  when  the  men  the  most  conspicu- 
ous in  its  control  and  management  did  not  avoid  provincial 
politics.  We  shall  find  this  period  to  end  only  in  disaster,  and 
we  must  endeavor  to  fathom  those  causes  which  led  to  the 
injustice  of  1779,  when  the  fair  fabric  was  laid  low  which  had 
grown  to  such  vigor  by  its  first  commencement.  It  is  difficult 


HlSTORV    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA.  319 

to  draw  the  line  between  the  differing  influences  which  were 
fostered  within  its  boundaries,  for  though  Education  was  its  aim, 
yet  there  was  too  much  fomenting  and  seething  within  the  Prov- 
ince in  which  it  was  placed  to  keep  that  aim  undisturbed  ;  and 
many  matters  may  have  taken  form  that  do  not  appear  on 
record,  which  left  their  sting  behind  to  bear  fruit  in  the  uncer- 
tain and  harassing  times  of  mid-revolution,  in  which  perhaps 
institutions  were  made  the  victims  of  mistrust  and  suspicion  in 
order  to  strike  at  individuals. 


XLV. 

That  the  mixing  of  politics  in  college  life  was  not  due  to 
colonial  influences  in  this  case,  but  rather  in  the  inborn  taste  of 
the  average  Englishman,  whether  in  home  or  colonial  life,  for 
politics  generally,  is  borne  out  by  the  consideration  of  their 
influence  in  the  universities  at  home.  Mr.  Wordsworth  in  his 
Social  Life  at  the  English  Universities,  quoting  Hartley  Cole- 
ridge, "Everything  in  England  takes  the  shape  and  hue  of  poli- 
tics," proceeds  to  say : 

If  this  was  true  of  the  country  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  present  century, 
it  was  so  preeminently  at  the  Universities  in  the  Eighteenth,  *  *  *  It  might 
at  first  sight  appear  that  politics  could  have  very  little  to  do  with  the  Life 
and  Studies  of  a  University.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the  real  state 
of  the  case.  After  three  such  revolutions  as  the  country  had  experienced 
within  half  a  century,  it  was  impossible  that  the  interest  of  the  country  should 
not  be  fixed  upon  public  affairs.  The  taste  for  Pamphlets  which  had  arisen 
in  the  days  of  Charles  I.  had  now  increased  a  thousandfold.  *  *  *  If 
we  take  up  a  chance  volume  containing  i8th  century  tracts  relating  to  either 
of  the  Universities,  it  will  be  no  extraordinary  thing  if  there  are  one  or 
more  bearing  directly  upon  the  politics  of  the  day  :  very  few  we  shall  find, 
if  we  have  the  time  or  the  patience  to  read  them  through  are  totally  uncon- 
nected with  party  dissensions.  *  *  *  Politics  usurped  the  place  of 
Christian  doctrine  in  the  pulpit ;  politics  lurked  in  the  Coffee  houses  and 
the  taverns — her  spirit  was  not  expelled  even  from  the  '  Triposes  '  and 
Tripos-speeches.  At  Oxford  the  Act  (or  Commemoration)  was  full  of 


320        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

it  *  *  *  Party  feeling  had  a  great  power  in  producing  and  foster- 
ing the  nightly  demonstrations  which  disturbed  the  more  peaceful  students 
and  inhabitants  of  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century,  and  early  in  our  own.1 

That  a  certain  knowledge  of  cotemporary  politics  can  be 
made  a  handmaid  to  Education,  there  can  be  no  question,  for  the 
pupil  in  this  can  with  the  aid  of  his  preceptor  be  led  to  juster  and 
truer  views  of  the  former,  than  if  he  was  shut  out  of  all  knowl- 
edge of  civil  movements  around  him  and  only  turned  into  them 
without  training  when  Education  has  set  him  nominally  free 
from  its  bonds.  The  boys  in  the  College  and  Academy  were 
trained  to  loyalty;  the  Commencement  of  1762  provided  a 
Dialogue  and  Ode  on  the  death  of  our  late  gracious  Majesty 
George  II  ;  the  Commencement  of  1763  had  a  like  exercise  in 
honor  of  the  happy  accession  and  nuptials  of  our  present  gra- 
cious Majesty  George  III.  But  the  controversies  over  the 
Stamp  Act  made  loyalty  to  such  a  gracious  sovereignty  less 
palatable,  patriotism  became  an  element  in  the  community, 
and  its  votaries  were  found  in  our  College  Halls  in  increasing 
numbers  year  by  year.  Smith,  the  author  of  the  Dialogues  of 
1762  and  1763,  could  not  sympathise  in  this  patriotism  as  did 
Hopkinson  the  author  of  the  Ode,  who  with  his  pen  and  good 
humor  helped  in  the  nationalising  of  his  native  land.  Thus,  in 
our  narrative  we  cannot  recite  the  work  and  influence  of  the 
remarkable  curriculum  alone,  and  note  the  happy  results  for 
learning  and  knowledge  in  its  students  which  proved  its  excel- 
lence, without  throwing  upon  it,  and  the  men  who  employed  it, 
those  lights  and  shadows  which  the  contemporary  circumstances 
surrounding  the  new  birth  of  a  nation  would  naturally  engender. 
In  our  case,  this  is  imperative  ;  for  some  of  the  Trustees  and 
members  of  the  Faculty  were  deep  in  the  controversies  of  these 
years,  and  their  personal  influence  must  have  been  felt  by  the 
lads.  Could  it  be  a  matter  of  little  moment  to  any  of  these, 
that  the  Founder  of  their  Home  of  learning  was  the  foremost 
man  of  the  day  in  all  public  affairs  whether  of  politics  or  of 
philanthropy,  and  was  in  most  of  these  years  representing  his 

1  Social  Life,  pp.  5,  24,  25,  26,  27. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNYSLVANIA.       32  [ 

adopted  Province  at  the  throne  of  power  pleading  for  liberty  ? 
Could  it  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  any  that  their  Provost 
was  taking  his  share  in  controversy  whether  public  or  anony- 
mous ?  Would  they  not  catch  at  least  the  echo  of  these 
influences  ?  And  may  it  not  lie  in  such  surroundings  that  the 
College  and  Academy  turned  into  the  arena  of  the  Revolution 
more  men  in  proportion  to  her  graduates  than  any  other 
Collegiate  institution  ?  If  this  was  so,  no  regret  can  be  felt  at 
the  exhibitions  of  partisan  strife  we  shall  witness  as  we  pro- 
ceed in  the  years  whose  records  are  yet  to  be  studied.  In  this 
central  Province  of  the  colonies  all  the  great  movements  of 
the  time  found  their  larger  expression,  and  the  College  lads 
would  have  been  cold  indeed  did  their  feelings  not  respond 
to  the  thought  that  they  were  waiting  on  the  infancy  of  a  great 
Nation,  in  whose  future  success  they  might  have  some  share, 
whether  more  or  less.  Hopkinson  who  set  his  loyal  Odes  of 
1762  and  1763  to  his  own  music  and  sang  them,  was  equally 
with  Paca  nurturing  those  greater  principles  which  caused 
them  to  set  their  hands  to  a  Declaration  that  loyalty  to  one's 
own  country  was  the  highest  patriotism.  Duche  put  his  hands 
to  the  same  plough,  but  looked  back  and  was  lost.  Latta,  and 
Magaw,  and  Morgan,  and  Williamson,  were  all  true  to  the  same 
pole.  These  were  the  farthest  removed  from  the  storm 
burst  of  1775.  But  they,  even  from  this  distant  point,  attain 
a  like  degree  in  the  work  of  their  country's  freedom  with  John 
Morris,  Patrick  Alison,  Robert  Goldsborough,  Whitmel  Hill, 
Thomas  Mifflin,  Richard  Peters,  Tench  Tilghman,  Alexander 
Wilcocks,  Joseph  Yeates,  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant,  John 
Andrews,  William  White,  Francis  Johnston,  Joshua  Maddox 
Wallace,  Benjamin  Duffield,  Henry  Latimer,  and  others.  Hap- 
pily for  their  country,  these  men  came  to  the  struggle  with 
minds  trained  in  the  best  school  for  learning  known  in  the 
colonies,  and  the  record  of  such  results  should  alone  have 
saved  it  from  the  suspicions  and  the  injustice  of  1779 ;  but,  the 
party  heat  of  that  year  having  found  its  victim  exhausted  itself, 
and  the  successors  of  these  partisans  in  a  single  decade  made 
restitution  and  galvanized  their  victim  into  new  life. 


322        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XLVL 

During  the  preparations  for  the  first  commencement  there 
arose  the  beginnings  of  a  contention  in  which  the  Provost 
largely  figured.  It  was  in  the  case  of  Judge  Moore  of  Chester 
County,  against  whom  as  early  as  March,  1757,  petitions  were 
being  sent  up  to  the  Assembly  praying  his  removal  for  sundry 
alleged  acts  of  injustice  and  cruelty.  These  the  Assembly 
deferred  the  consideration  of  for  several  weeks,  but  the  petitions 
accumulated.  At  last  in  August  a  hearing  of  both  parties  is 
had,  and  Judge  Moore  presents  a  paper  in  general  contradiction 
of  the  petitions.  Adjournment  is  had,  but  instead  of  appearing  he 
sends  in  a  Memorial  denying  authority  of  Assembly,  as  all  mat- 
ters charged  against  him  were  cognizable  by  common  law.  The 
House  continued  the  case  and  took  testimony  from  the  peti- 
tioners, and  finally  on  27  September  adjudged  him  guilty,  and 
addressed  Governor  Denny  requesting  him  "to  remove  William 
Moore  from  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
and  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  from  all  other  publick  Offices,  Posts 
and  Employments."  The  animus  of  all  this  lay  in  the  imputed 
enmity  of  the  Friends  in  the  Assembly  to  Judge  Moore,  as  he 
had  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  attacks  on  the  Friends  for 
their  Peace  principles  when  war  was  hovering  on  the  borders  of 
the  Province.  The  address  to  the  Governor  was  by  order  of  the 
House  published  in  the  Gazette,  where  many  of  the  official  docu- 
ments reached  the  public  eye.  Judge  Moore  took  umbrage  at 
this  ;  and  the  Assembly  having  adjourned  on  I  October,  and 
the  election  for  the  new  Assembly  shortly  recurring,  he  deemed 
it  important  to  submit  a  counter  address  to  the  Governor,  which 
was  also  inserted  in  the  Gazette  ;  his  language  was  free  and 
aggressive,  for  the  body  which  had  maligned  him  was  in  his  opin- 
ion dead  ;  but  the  new  Assembly  composed  mainly  of  the  same 
members  accepted  his  address  as  an  attack  on  their  dignity,  and 
6  January,  1758,  they  summoned  him  and  also  William  Smith  to 
the  Bar  of  the  House  to  answer  such  questions  as  should  then 
and  there  be  put  to  them.  Mr.  Smith's  connection  with  this  was 
due  not  only  to  the  general  suspicion  that  he  was  the  author  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        323 

Judge  Moore's  letter  to  the  Governor  that  was  deemed  so 
offensive  by  the  Assembly,  which  however  Judge  Moore  declared 
was  his  own  authorship  ;  but  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  instru- 
mental in  causing  its  publication  in  the  German  newspaper 
that  was  published  under  the  care  of  the  German  Society, 
which  was  not  denied.  The  Governor  appointed  a  day  for  hear- 
ing the  case,  but  in  the  meanwhile  the  House  impatient  at  the 
Governor's  tardiness  and  wishing  to  lose  no  time  in  avenging  the 
indignity  to  the  former  house  had  placed  Judge  Moore  under 
arrest,  which  in  turn  he  pleaded  as  an  excuse  for  not  appearing 
before  the  Governor  for  the  appointed  hearing.  Governor 
Denny  and  the  Assembly  fell  into  an  angry  correspondence,  as 
the  latter  came  under  the  belief  that  he  was  seeking  the  refuge 
of  technicalities  on  behalf  of  the  Judge.  On  1 1  January  he  was 
adjudged  guilty  of  a  high  contempt,  and  ordered  to  be  impris- 
oned until  he  should  retract.  On  the  I3th,  Mr.  Smith  was  called 
up  to  answer  for  his  share  in  this  controversy,  and  on  the  24th 
he  was  adjudged  guilty  of  "  promoting  and  publishing  the  libel- 
lous paper  &c,"  and  on  the  next  day,  on  being  ordered  in  and 
informed  of  this  finding,  he  arose  and  said  he  would  make  an 
appeal  to  the  King.  On  being  presented  with  the  alternative  of 
a  retraction,  he  replied,  in  one  of  his  eloquent  outbursts, 

as  he  was  conscious  of  no  offense  against  the  house,  his  lips  should  never 
give  his  heart  the  lie,  there  being  no  punishment  which  they  could  inflict 
half  so  terrible  to  him  as  the  thought  of  forfeiting  his  veracity  and  good 
name  with  the  world,1 

which  attracted  applause  among  his  friends  who  were  in  the 
house,  but  for  which  they  in  turn  were  brought  up  for  censure 
and  admonition. 

Mr.  Smith  was  then  committed  to  the  Sheriff  for  imprison- 
ment, and  to  Jail  he  went.      On  4  February  he  applied    to  Chief 


1  American  Magazine,  p.  200.  In  this  serial  will  be  found,  in  the  Numbers 
for  February  and  August,  1758,  Mr.  Smith's  narrative  of  this  whole  proceeding. 
"  The  Assembly  of  this  province  hath  been  sitting  since  the  2nd  inst  [January], 
during  which  time  some  steps  have  been  taken,  so  alarming  in  their  nature,  and 
attended  with  such  public  heats  and  animosities,  that  we  dare  not  trust  ourselves  at 
present  to  give  a  particular  account  of  them,  least  we  should  have  caught  some 
degree  of  the  general  infection  to  make  us  depart  from  our  usual  coolness  and  candor 
of  disquisition,"  p.  199. 


324        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Justice  Allen,  a  College  Trustee,  for  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus, 
but  the  latter  did  not  think  himself  authorized  in  granting  such 
as  the  petitioner  was  committed  by  the  House  for  a  breach  of 
privilege.  His  appeal  to  the  Governor  was  as  well  unsuccessful, 
for  his  endorsement  on  the  petition  read,  "  The  unhappy 
situation  of  the  Petitioner  moves  me  with  great  compassion,  but 
if  I  have  a  Power  in  any  shape  to  interpose  in  this  matter,  I  do 
not  incline  to  excuse  it,  as  it  might,  at  this  critical  Juncture, 
endanger  the  safety  of  the  whole  Province."  Here  he  continued 
until  liberated  about  1 1  April  by  the  Supreme  Court  on  the 
adjournment  of  the  Assembly  ;  but  on  reassembling  in  Septem- 
ber new  writs  were  issued  and  he  was  again  arrested  and  was  in 
imprisonment  until  the  final  adjournment.  In  the  meanwhile, 
his  appeal  was  prepared  and  had  gone  forward  and  had  been 
referred  to  the  Attorney  General.  The  new  Assembly  in 
November,  again  in  pursuit  of  the  vindication  of  the  honor  of  the 
former  Assembly,  voted  Smith's  commitment  to  the  Sergeant-at- 
Arms,  but  he  could  not  be  found  and  by  I  December  had 
sailed  for  England  to  prosecute  in  person  his  Appeal  from  the 
judgments  of  the  assembly.  As  to  Judge  Moore,  the  Governor 
gave  him  a  hearing  in  August,  and  adjudged  him  free  of  the 
charges  preferred  against  him  ;  but  the  assembly  still  sought 
reparation  and  his  retraction,  without  avail ;  and  in  February, 
1759,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  reported  that "  Moore  has  absconded 
without  paying  his  fees,  and  Smith  having  lately  embarked  for 
England." 

It  is  difficult  for  us,  so  many  years  after  these  transactions, 
to  form  an  exact  opinion  on  the  merits  of  this  peculiar  case. 
Mr.  Smith  to  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London  written  from  the 
"  Philada.  County  Gaol  ",  7  February,  1758,  speaks  of  the 

Persecuting  spirit  of  the  Quakers  against  those  who  had  the  courage  to 
avow  themselves  strenuous  advocates  for  the  defence  of  this  His  Majesty's 
Colony.  *  *  *  Against  me  in  particular  they  have  had  a  long  grudge 
supposing  me  the  Author  of  some  Pamphlets  published  in  London  to  alarm 
the  Nation  of  the  dreadful  consequences  of  suffering  such  men  to  continue 
in  power  at  this  time.  But  finding  no  pretext  to  distress  me,  though  lying 
in  watch  for  three  years,  the  Assembly  called  me  before  them  and  com- 
mitted me  to  gaol  for  having  reprinted  a  Paper  (in  the  German  Newspaper 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       325 

under  my  Direction  as  a  Trustee  for  a  Society  in  London)  which  had  been 
printed  four  weeks  before  in  both  the  English  Newspapers,  and  in  one  of 
them  by  the  Assembly's  own  Printer  after  consulting  the  Speaker  and 
two  other  leading  Members.2 

This  statement  brings  the  gravamen  down  to  one  charge, 
of  his  instrumentality  in  printing  it  in  the  German  paper.  It  is 
true  it  had  appeared  in  Franklin's  Gazette  and  Bradford's 
Journal  but  only  in  sequence  with  other  State  Papers,  and  these 
newspapers  were  more  just  to  Judge  Moore  in  printing  both 
sides  of  the  controversy  than  was  the  German  paper  in  merely 
printing  the  Judge's  Counter  Address.  In  this  sense  the  Assem- 
bly adjudged  him  guilty  "  of  promoting  and  publishing  a  false, 
scandalous,  virulent  and  seditious  libel  against  the  late  House 
of  Assembly  of  this  Province,  and  highly  derogatory  of  and 
destructive  to  the  rights  of  this  House  and  the  privileges  of 
Assembly."  Their  error  and  fault  lay  in  their  entire  course, 
for  they  could  not  pass  upon  the  libeller  of  the  former  assembly, 
and  their  proceeding  to  his  imprisonment  was  contrary  to  all  prin- 
ciple of  sound  justice.  The  Germans  found  that  their  only  means 
of  securing  general  news  was  through  a  newspaper  in  their  own 
language ;  and  as  they  were  assumed  to  be  inimical  to  the 
Assembly  which  was  largely  composed  of  Quakers,  to  circulate 
Judge  Moore's  Counter  Address  was  certainly  treating  them  to 
that  view  of  the  controversy  which  was  the  most  prejudicial 
to  their  influence,  and  they  rightly  deemed  that  this  was  not  the 
intent  of  the  publication  in  the  German  newspaper.  But  whatever 
the  former  Assembly  might  have  done  to  vindicate  their  honor, 
their  successors  had  no  standing  upon  which  to  take  up  the 
cudgels  for  them.  Here  was  Mr.  Smith's  strong  point,  and  he 
was  aware  of  it  ;  and  he  would  be  content  with  even  imprison- 
ment if  he  felt  that  justice  in  the  end  would  be  attained. 

That  there  were  lurking  suspicions  against  Mr.  Smith  as  to 
his  connection  with  the  controversies  of  the  day,  and  somewhat 
of  a  fear  of  the  force  of  his  trenchant  pen,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
but  to  what  extent  there  existed  ground  for  the  former  we  now 


1  Isaac    Norris,    William      Masters,    and     Joseph    Galloway.       American 
Magazine,  p.  200. 


326       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 

know  not,  but  we  can  well  judge  that  both  his  tongue  and  his 
pen  were  deemed  strong  weapons,  which  perhaps  were  more 
dreaded  than  respected.  These  were  not  entertained  alone  by 
the  Quakers,  as  Smith  always  termed  the  Friends,  although  he 
appeared  to  lay  at  their  door  all  the  charges  of  enmity  to  him. 
In  the  Assembly  which  now  passed  judgment  upon  him  there 
were  three  of  his  College  Trustees,  Leech,  Masters,  and  Plum- 
sted,  all  Churchmen,  and  so  far  as  we  know  they  did  not 
befriend  him.  Even  good  old  Dr.  Jenney,  the  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  had  no  warm  thought  for  the  young  cleric-politician, 
for  on  27  November  of  the  same  year  he  wrote  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  : 

What  I  am  most  concerned  for  and  apprehensive  of  evil  conse- 
quences from  is  the  practice  of  some  Clergymen  here  to  intermix  what  is 
their  true  and  real  business  with  politics  in  civil  affairs  and  being  so  zealous 
therein  as  to  blame  and  even  revile  those  of  their  Brethren  who  cannot 
approve  of  their  conduct  in  '.his  particular.  I  am  very  sorry  to  be  forced 
to  name  one  William  Smith,  who  'tis  said  is  gone  to  England  with  this 
view,  and  without  doubt  will  wait  upon  -your  grace.  *  *  *  He  pre- 
tends to  be  a  great  intimate  of  the  Hon'  ble  Mr.  Thomas  Penn,  our  Pro- 
prietor, and  several  other  great  men  whose  favour  he  boasts  of,  but  I  am 
in  Hopes  that  no  great  man  will  support  him  in  his  misrepresentation  of 
me  without  giving  me  an  opportunity  to  clear  myself. 

One  element  of  opposition  to  him  was  found,  probably,  in 
a  natural  but  unreasonable  local  prejudice  against  a  new  comer 
into  the  community  engaging  so  heartily  in  provincial  contests, 
for  he  had  been  a  resident  of  Philadelphia  but  three  years  when 
he  became  a  partisan  of  Judge  Moore.  His  dislike  of  the 
Assembly,  on  account  of  its  Quaker  influences,  was  perhaps 
reciprocated  on  account  of  their  repugnance  to  a  minister  of 
Christ  who  was  so  valorous  for  war ;  but  his  opponents  in  the 
Assembly  were  not  always  these  Quakers.  Politics  found  in  him 
a  congenial  adherent,  and  it  was  impossible  with  his  peculiar 
temperament  for  him  to  keep  out  of  the  fray  that  was  raging 
in  the  press  around  him.  Had  a  contrary  attitude  prevailed, 
his  influence  on  the  side  of  peace  and  harmony  would  have  been 
of  great  avail,  but  his  pen  was  but  adding  fuel  to  the  flames. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        327 
XLVII. 

The  circumstances  of  the  province  military-wise  were 
peculiar,  and  were  made  more  conspicuous  in  its  position  of 
danger  by  surrounding  enemies,  from  whom  it  could  only 
defend  itself  by  its  own  resources.  These  resources,  so  far  as 
the  descendants  of  Penn's  followers  could  be  considered,  were 
not  drawn  from  any  military  preparations,  but  only  from  the 
mighty  arm  of  peace  and  good-will.  Had  the  Friends  been  the 
only  citizens  in  the  Province,  it  is  not  without  reason  to  suppose 
that  they  would  never  have  been  harassed  by  enemies,  for  the 
Indians  would  have  been  their  defendants  against  the  French 
instead  of  befriending  the  subtle  foe  ;  but  from  the  mixed  nature 
of  the  inhabitants  offences  could  not  be  avoided,  and  the  peace 
policy  of  the  Friends  lost  all  its  force.  Mr.  Smith,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1757,  describes  the  situation  thus  : 

The  province  of  Pennsylvania  has  something  peculiar  to  itself  that 
renders  this  task  harder  in  it  than  in  almost  any  other  country.  We  are  at 
present  a  trading  and  not  a  military  colony;  and  of  eight  religious  denomi- 
nations that  are  of  most  note  among  us  (if  we  follow  the  example  of  our 
mother  country)  we  can  only  depend  on  four  to  bear  arms.  The  Roman 
Catholics  are  excluded  for  political  reasons  ;  the  Unitas  Fratrum  or  Mora- 
vians are  exempted  from  all  personal  service  by  an  act  of  parliament  in 
1749  ;  and  the  Quakers  and  Mennonites,  two  numerous  and  wealthy  socie- 
ties, cannot  bear  arms  consistent  with  their  religious  tenets  ;  so  that  the 
danger  and  burden  of  publick  defence  is  devolved  on  the  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  the  English  and  German  Presbyterians,  the  Lutherans, 
and  the  English  Baptists.  But  these  will  think  it  hard  and  unequal  to 
expose  their  lives  to  maintain  their  neighbors  in  ease  and  safety,  who  have 
equal  estates  and  privileges  ;  and  it  may  be  thought  as  hard  to  oblige  men 
by  a  law,  to  do  that  in  defence  of  their  lives  or  estates,  which  they  are  per- 
suaded will  ruin  their  souls.  *  *  *  If  the  burden  of  defence  be  cast 
on  the  four  religious  denominations  who  can  bear  arms,  it  would  be 
unequal  and  severe  ;  nay,  it  would  be  to  preserve  the  religious  rights  of 
one  part  of  the  State  at  the  expense  of  the  civil  rights  of  another.1 

Thus  the  Friends,  being  the  greatest  in  number  and 
influence  of  all  the  combatants,  attracted  to  themselves  the 
opposition  of  those  who  were  impatient  at  their  conscientious 


1  Proposal  for  a  Militia  in  Pennsylvania.     American  Magazine,  p.  63. 


328       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

denial  of  appropriations  for  military  purposes,  and  in  contem- 
porary politics  they  bore  the  brunt  of  accusations  that  they  were 
exposing  the  borders  of  the  Province  to  Indian  and  French 
depredations.  This  revilement  was  convenient  and  easy,  yet 
no  attempt  was  made  by  their  accusers  to  pursue  that  even- 
handed  justice  with  the  native  Savage  which  would  have  gone  a 
long  way  to  avert  the  calamities  of  war. 


XLVIII. 

Mr.  Smith's  occupation  in  this  arraignment  and  imprison- 
ment necessarily  deprived  the  College  of  his  continuous  atten- 
tion ;  and  references  to  this  peculiar  condition  of  affairs  are 
found  twice  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees.  On  4  February, 
the  first  meeting  after  his  imprisonment,  when  the  refusal  to 
him  on  that  day  by  Chief  Justice  Allen  of  a  writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus  rendered  his  release  for  the  remainder  of  the  Assem- 
bly's session  hopeless,  it  is  recorded  : 

the  Assembly  ot  the  Province  having  taken  Mr  Smith  into  Custody  the 
Trustees  considered  how  the  Inconveniences  from  thence  arising  to  the 
College  might  be  best  remedied,  and  Mr  Smith  having  expressed  a  Desire 
to  continue  his  Lectures  to  the  Classes  which  had  formerly  attended  them, 
the  Students  also  inclining  to  proceed  in  their  Studies  under  his  care  ; 
They  ordered  that  the  said  Classes  should  attend  him  for  that  Purpose  at 
the  usual  Hours  in  the  Place  of  his  present  Confinement  : 

this  being  in  the  County  Prison  at  the  corner  of  Walnut 
and  Sixth  Streets,  and  here  the  young  Provost  taught  his 
classes  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  lot  which  James  Logan 
had  in  1749  offered  the  Trustees  for  the  use  of  their  new 
Academy.  And  here  he  remained,  unyielding  in  his  position 
and  surrounded  by  his  classes,  until  his  liberation  in  April  upon 
adjournment  of  the  Assembly.  But  no  steps  were  taken  for 
the  annual  commencement,  possibly  under  the  apprehension  lest 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        329 

a  public  ceremony  of  this  kind  would  draw  some  of  the  hostility 
exhibited  by  the  partisans  of  the  Assembly  against  its  Provost, 
personally  towards  the  College  and  its  Trustees.  Three  of  the 
young  men  were  ready  for  their  degrees  ;  Andrew  Allen,  James 
Allen,  and  John  Morris  had  undergone  the  usual  public  exami- 
nation with  approbation,  but  they  had  to  await  the  commence- 
ment exercises  of  1759  for  their  public  reception. l 

But  in  the  midst  of  Mr.  Smith's  trials  and  imprisonment, 
came  the  romance  of  his  life.  In  his  acquaintance  with  Judge 
Moore  and  his  family,  he  could  not  but  be  attracted  by  the 
charms  of  his  daughter  Rebecca,  a  beautiful  and  accomplished 
girl.  She  was  a  faithful  visitor  to  her  Father  in  his  confinement, 
and  while  the  Judge  and  the  Provost  in  their  long  hours  of 
imprisonment  must  have  often  conferred  together  upon  their 
wrongs  and  have  fostered  each  in  the  other  common  courage 
and  endurance,  and  maintained  a  mutual  hope  of  ultimate  free- 
dom, the  latter  must  have  had  frequent  and  favorable  opportu- 
nities of  cultivating  an  acquaintance  with  the  former's  lovely 
visitor ;  an  engagement  followed,  and  in  a  few  weeks  after  his 
liberation  they  were  married  on  3  June,  1750,  at  Moore  Hall, 
in  Chester  County,  the  Judge's  residence.  Mrs.  Smith's  eldest 
sister,  Williamina,  had  married  in  1748,  Dr.  Phineas  Bond.  Of 
this  alliance,  his  Biographer  records  : 

he  was  indebted  for  a  well -assorted  and  happy  connexion  ;  it  was 
every  way  judicious  ;  family,  fortune  and  external  circumstances,  combined 
with  considerations  of  feeling  to  make  it  wise. 


1  Minutes,  8  Tune,  1759.     See  Smith  i.  186. 


33O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

XLIX. 

But,  with  all  his  employments  of  mind  and  heart  early  in 
1758,  William  Smith's  thoughts  drifted  again  to  public  affairs;  and 
out  of  his  keen  anxieties  for  the  safety  of  the  Province  in  the 
approaching  campaign  which  General  Forbes  was  now  undertak- 
ing against  Fort  Duquesne,  came  his  "  Earnest  address  to  the 
Colonies,  particularly  those  of  the  Southern  district ;  on  the 
opening  of  the  Campaign,  1758,"  to  which  the  concluding  para- 
graph gives  an  eloquent  closing  : 

Rise,  then,  my  countrymen,  as  you  value  the  blessings  you  enjoy, 
and  dread  the  evils  that  hang  over  you,  rise  and  show  yourselves  worthy  of 
the  name  of  Britons  !  rise  to  secure  to  your  posterity,  peace,  freedom,  and 
a  pure  religion  !  rise  to  chastize  a  perfidious  nation  for  their  breach  of 
treaties,  their  detestable  cruelties,  and  their  horrid  murders  !  remember  the 
cries  of  your  captivated  brethren,  your  orphan  children,  your  helpless 
widows,  and  thousands  of  beggar' d  families  !  think  of  Monongahela,  Fort 
William  Henry,  and  those  scenes  of  savage  death,  where  the  mangled 
limbs  of  your  fellow  citizens  lie  strewed  upon  the  plain  ;  calling  upon  you 
to  retrieve  the  honor  of  the  British  name  !  Thus  animated  and  roused,  and 
thus  putting  your  confidence,  where  alone  it  can  be  put,  let  us  go  forth  in 
humble  boldness  ;  and  the  Lord  do  what  seemeth  him  good. 

The  hopeful  anticipations  of  the  colonists  for  this  campaign 
were  realised  ;  and  we  find  Mr.  Smith  preaching  in  Trinity 
Church,  New  York,  on  17  September,  1758,  his  sermon  on 
"  the  Duty  of  praising  God  for  signal  Mercies  and  Deliverances, 
on  occasion  of  the  remarkable  success  of  His  Majesty's  Arms 
in  America,  during  that  Campaign ; "  which  he  repeated  at 
Oxford,  Pennsylvania,  on  i  October : 

After  the  days  of  mourning  which  we  have  seen,  the  short  period  of 
one  year  has  produced  such  a  turn  in  favour  of  the  Protestant  cause,  as 
astonishes  ourselves,  and  among  posterity  will  scarce  be  believed.  The 
wonderful  successes  of  the  Prussian  Hero,  towards  the  close  of  the  last 
campaign  in  Germany  ;  and  the  successes  which,  in  the  present  campaign, 
God  has  already  been  pleased  to  bestow  on  the  British  arms  in  America,  by 
the  reduction  of  Louisburg,  l  and  other  important  places,  furnish  a  series  of 


1  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  24  August,  1758,  announces  the  "  New  York  post 
riding  ninety  miles  last  Monday  to  bring  news  of  the  fall  of  Louisburg,  our  bells 
were  set  a  Ringing,  the  Guns  were  fired,  Bonfires  were  lighted,  and  the  city  was 
beautifully  illuminated." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        331 

such  happy  events,  that  if  any  one  had  proposed  them  to  our  hopes  a 
twelvemonth  ago,  we  should  have  thought  him  mocking  our  credulity,  or 
insulting  our  distress.  *  *  *  The  best  fruits  of  victory  are  beset  around 
with  thorns  ;  and  what  are  days  of  rejoicing  to  others  are  but  days  of 
mourning  to  many,  whose  dearest  Relatives  have  given  up  their  lives,  a  sac- 
rifice in  the  contest.  This  world  is  a  chequered  scene,  and  we  are  to  expect 
no  pure  bliss  in  it. 


L. 

The  new  Assembly  which  convened  in  November  was 
seeking  Mr.  Smith  for  further  imprisonment.  His  appeal  had 
gone  forward  to  England.  He  may  have  hoped  the  coming 
Assembly  would  not  strain  its  authority  as  had  the  former 
Assembly,  and  he  might  remain  unmolested  in  the  pursuit  of 
of  his  duties.  But  he  was  disappointed,  and  at  his  request  the 
President  called 

an  especial  Meeting  on  the  22d  November,  that  the  Trustees  might  be 
made  acquainted  that  he  had  been  imprisoned  by  a  former  Assembly  for  a 
supposed  offence  in  promoting  and  publishing  an  Address  of  William 
Moore,  Esqr,  to  the  Honourable  William  Denny,  Esqr,the  Governor  of  this 
Province,  which  that  House  had  voted  a  Libel  against  them  and  the  Privi- 
leges of  Assembly  ;  that  he  conceived  though  the  Charge  against  him  had 
been  true,  which  however  he  utterly  denied,  he  did  not  think  it  a  Matter 
cognizable  before  them:  that,  not  having  hitherto  made  any  Submission  for 
the  said  supposed  offence,  the  present  assembly  had  issued  their  Warrant 
to  apprehend  him  and  take  him  into  Custody  ;  and  being,  in  this  Situa- 
tion, rendered  incapable  for  the  present  to  discharge  the  Duty  of  his  Sta- 
tion, he  designed  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the  Trustees  speedily 
to  sail  for  England  to  solicit  his  Majesty  for  relief  ;  and  prayed  the  Trustees 
to  grant  him  their  License  for  that  Purpose  ; 

and  on  Dr.  Peters  assuring  them  of  the  expected  assistance  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Ewing  in  the  Provost's  absence, 

the  Trustees  took  Mr  Smith's  Request  into  consideration  and  unanimously 
agreed  to  give  Mr  Smith  their  Leave  to  take  a  Voyage  to  England,  and  to 


332       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

be  absent  from  his  service  in  the  College  till  the  first  Day  of  June  next,  a 
which  Time  they  would  very  cheerfully  receive  him  again  as  their  Provost, 
and  on  this  occasion  they  thought  it  incumbent  on  them  to  do  Mr  Smith 
the  Justice  to  testify  their  Sense  of  his  great  abilities  and  the  Satisfaction 
he  had  given  them  in  the  faithful  Discharge  of  his  office. 

Furnished  with  this  diplomatic  but  kindly  action  of  the 
Trustees — for  they  forebore  using  any  word  or  phrase  which 
might  seem  to  befriend  the  subject  of  it  as  endangering  the 
notice  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Smith  took  passage  for  England 
about  i  December,  arriving  in  London  on  New  Year's  Day, 
1759.  He  prosecuted  his  appeal  with  success,  and  on  26  June 
the  Privy  Council  granted  him  the  relief  he  sought,  "  declaring 
his  Majesty's  high  displeasure  at  the  unwarrantable  behaviour  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania  in  assuming  to 
themselves  powers  which  do  not  belong  to  them,  and  invading 
both  his  Majesty's  Royal  Prerogative,  and  the  Liberties  of  the 
Subject"  ;  and  with  the  order  in  his  pocket  to  the  Governor  to 
signify  the  same  to  the  Assembly,  he  set  his  face  homeward  and 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  8  October.  He  also  brought  with  him 
the  Degree  Sacrosanctae  Theologise  Doctor  et  Magister  from 
the  University  of  Aberdeen,  dated  10  March,  1759,  and  that  of 
Doctor  in  Sacra  Theologia  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  of 
seventeen  days  later.  His  visit  to  England  was  singularly 
favorable,  as  the  influence  of  the  Penns,  of  whose  cause  in 
Pennsylvania  he  was  perhaps  the  ablest  advocate,  befriended 
him  and  enabled  him  with  more  readiness  to  prosecute  his 
appeal.  This  was  helped  in  turn  by  the  Oxford  Degree ;  and  at 
a  time  when  the  Assembly's  representative  was  pleading  without 
success  for  relief  from  Proprietary  restrictions,  to  mark  with 
signal  favor,  by  college  and  royalty,  the  man  who  was  in  fact 
combating  that  complaint,  was  an  opportunity  that  might  not 
be  lost  at  this  critical  political  juncture.  The  Penn  family  were 
now  Church  of  England  people,  and  had  lost  the  personal  sym- 
pathies of  their  great  ancestor's  co-religionists  who  were  quite 
free  to  join  the  popular  party  who  were  combating  the  Proprie- 
tary selfishness.  Thus  on  every  hand,  the  Penns  would  welcome 
the  man  whose  trenchant  pen  was  maintaining  their  authority 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       333 

in  a  distant  province  which  had  reason  to  fault  their  absenteeism 
and  exactions.  Under  these  peculiar  circumstances,  Dr.  Smith 
did  not  confer  with  Franklin,  then  in  England.  We  know  not 
whether  they  met.  Ordinarily,  it  might  be  thought  he  would 
seek  counsel  of  the  man  who  had  made  for  him  such  an  excel- 
lent position  in  Pennsylvania ;  but  to  avail  himself  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Penns,  it  was  essential  there  should  be  no  entangle- 
ment or  acknowledged  intercourse  with  the  representative  of  the 
Assembly  whose  attitude  was  one  of  opposition  to  that  family. 
However,  the  author  of  the  Account  of  the  College  and  Academy 
of  Philadelphia  in  the  American  Magazine  for  October,  1758, 
might  not  expect  a  welcome  or  any  aid  from  the  man  upon 
whom  he  had  therein  recorded  an  injustice  ;  and  a  copy  of  this 
may  have  reached  Franklin,  as  his  partner  must  have  kept  him 
supplied  with  all  home  publications. 

The  American  Magazine  or  Monthly  Chronicle  for  the 
British  Colonies,  was  undertaken  in  October,  1757,  by  a 
"  Society  of  Gentlemen,"  and  published  by  William  Bradford, 
at  his  establishment  in  the  London  Coffee  House,  at  the  corner 
of  Front  and  Market  Streets,  and  bore  the  Motto  on  its  title 
pages,  Veritatis  cultores.  Fraudis  inimici.  Bradford  had  such  a 
publication  long  in  mind,  and  finally  in  William  Smith  he  found 
his  editor. 

The  parties  saw  in  each  other  their  required  complements  ;  and  with 
such  a  literary  support  as  Dr.  Smith — both  ready  and  able  with  his  pen, 
methodical  in  business,  and  with  talents  formed  equally  to  gratify  the 
learned  and  to  attract  those  inspiring  to  learn — Bradford  felt  that  he  could 
safely  begin  his  work.  1 


1  Smith,  i.  165.  The  Editor  writes  to  George  Washington,  10  November 
1757,  soliciting  his  interest  in  the  publication  and  displaying  some  of  his  plans  in  its 
conduct:  "Sir:  You'll  perceive  your  name  in  the  list  of  those  'tis  hoped  will 
encourage  the  enclosed  Magazine  &  I  hope  you'll  forgive  the  Liberty  we  have  taken 
as  you  are  placed  in  good  company  &  in  a  good  design.  Tis  a  work  which  may  be 
rendered  of  very  general  Service  to  all  the  Colonies.  We  shall  be  under  particular 
Obligations  for  every  Subscriber  you  can  procure,  to  give  the  work  a  general  Run. 
I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  Papers  you  sent  relating  to  the  French  Memorial  & 
you  would  have  seen  proper  use  made  of  them  before  now  *  *  *  in  the  general  His- 
tory of  the  present  War  which  you  find  promised  in  the  Magazine.  I  shall  therefore, 
be  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  every  Light  you  can  throw  upon  that  Subject.  *  * 
As  you  acted  a  principal  part  in  all  these  Affairs,  and  as  it  is  our  design  to  do  the 
utmost  Justice  to  all  concerned  &  especially  those  Patriots  &  brave  men  born  in 
America,  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the  present  war,  I  must  rely  on  your 


334       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  Editor  in  his  preface  says  : 

We  think  we  have  every  advantage  for  carrying  it  on,  which  this  new 
world  can  afford.  We  are  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  British  Colonies,  in 
a  city  that  has  extensive  commerce,  and  immediate  communication  with 
all  our  other  settlements.  We  have  also  the  opportunity  of  decorating  our 
work  with  engravings  of  every  sort,  for  demonstrations  in  mathematics, 
and  other  necessary  cuts  and  figures,  by  means  of  an  able  workman 
residing  among  us. 

Ebenezer  Kinnersley  and  Thomas  Godfrey  were  contrib- 
utors to  its  pages.  Some  of  the  early  poems  of  Frances  Hop- 
kinson  adorned  them.  William  Smith  contributed  the  Hermit, 
the  Antigallican,  the  Planter,  the  Watchman,  and  the  Prattler, 
each  continued  through  various  numbers  ;  and  the  Monthly 
Chronicle  furnished  the  latest  news  from  abroad  and  political 
intelligence  at  home.  It  was  a  Magazine  well  ahead  of  the 
times  ;  but  its  life  was  brief,  the  last  number  being  that  of  Octo- 
ber, 1758,  which  contains  a  Postscript  dated  14  November, 
reciting  that 

as  the  design  was  at  first  set  on  foot  by  a  number  of  gentlemen,  merely 
with  a  view  to  promote  a  taste  for  Letters  and  useful  knowledge  in  this 
American  World,  and  as  several  of  the  principal  hands  who  first  engaged 
in  it,  are  now  obliged  to  give  their  constant  attention  to  other  matters,  the 
carrying  on  the  work  falls  too  heavy  on  the  remainder,  so  that  it  has  been 
determined  to  discontinue  it,  at  least  for  some  time. 

The  Editor,  upon  whose  skill  and  management  its  life 
depended,  was  now  contemplating  his  visit  to  England  in  prose- 
cution of  his  appeal,  and  Bradford  discontinued  its  publication, 
"  which  if  reputation  or  profit  had  been  their  motive,  the  work 
would  have  been  long  continued." 

The  account  of  the  College  and  Academy  prepared  by  the 
Provost  for  the  last  number  of  this  Magazine  was  inserted  in 
substance  in  the  edition  of  his  Discourses  which  were  published 


Assistance,  so  far  as  comes  within  your  knowledge.  *  *  *  As  this  history  is  to  be 
a  full  one  &  will  probably  be  long  preserved,  I  flatter  myself  that  your  Regard  for 
your  Country  and  Desire  to  have  its  interests  understood  will  excuse  this  trouble,  & 
induce  you  to  send  me  as  soon  as  possible  what  I  have  requested.  If  we  delay  long, 
the  Thing  may  fall  to  other  hands,  less  inclined  to  a  disinterested  execution  of  it. 
*  •*  *  Send  the  subscribers'  Names  for  the  Magazine  to  me  but  do  not  mention 
my  name  to  any  Body.  *  *  *  Wm.  Smith."  Letters  to  Washington  edited 
by  S.  M.  Hamilton,  1899,  ii.  233. 


HlSTOKV    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA.  33$ 

in  London  during  his  visit  there  in  1759,  an<^  this  has  been  fol- 
lowed in  the  later  edition  of  his  Discourses  and  that  of  his 
Works.  Both  publications  open  with  the  statement  that 

in  the  year  1749,  a  number  of  private  gentlemen,  who  had  long  regretted 
it  as  misfortune  to  the  youth  of  this  province  that  we  had  no  public  Semi- 
nary, in  which  they  might  receive  the  accomplishments  of  a  regular 
education,  published  a  paper  of  hints  and  proposals  for  erecting  an 
academy  in  this  city. 

But  the  Discourses  of  1757  omit  a  phrase  in  the  third  para- 
graph, found  in  the  Magazine  : 

At  first  only  three  persons  were  concerned  in  forming  it,  two  of 
whom  are1  since  dead,  and  the  other  now  in  England.  These  communi- 
cated their  thoughts  to  others,  till  at  last  the  number  of  [here  the  narrative 
continues  alike  in  both]  twenty-four  joined  themselves  together  as 
Trustees,  &c. 

The  one  "  now  in  England  "  was  Franklin  ;  the  two  "  since 
dead,"  were  Francis  and  Hopkinson  ;  for  though  Logan,  Law- 
rence, Zachary  and  Willing  were  also  "since  dead,"  the  two  here 
named  were  those  intended  by  the  writer.  It  is  not  probable 
this  mode  of  reference  to  the  author  of  the  Proposals  and  the 
originator  of  the  Academy  would  have  been  made  had  he  been 
at  the  time  at  home.  This  allusion  of  1758  was  of  an  opposite 
character  to  that  of  1753  (which  was  indeed  repeated  in  1762) 
where  in  his  Mirania  he  refers  to  "  the  English  School  and 
Academy  in  Philadelphia  first  sketched  out  by  the  very  ingen- 
ious and  worthy  Mr.  Franklin  of  that  place."  2  Certain  personal 
references  to  the  Faculty  of  the  College,  added  to  the  account 
in  the  Magazine,  and  which  will  be  noticed  hereafter,  do  not 
find  place  in  its  subsequent  publications.  It  was  no  light  work 
to  edit  such  a  Magazine,  and  it  affords  another  evidence  of 
William  Smith's  mental  activity  aud  unfailing  industry  that  he 
should  continue  it  through  the  particular  harassments  that  the 
year  1758  brought  to  him. 


1  Miranians,  p.  15.  In  the  second  edition  included  in  the  Discourses  of 
1762,  this  reference  is  put  in  a  footnote  and  reads  "first  sketched  out  by  the 
ingenious  Dr.  Franklin  of  that  place." 


336        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

LI. 

In  following  the  steps  of  the  Provost  from  the  Commence- 
ment of  1757,  we  have  done  so  continuously  for  the  space  of 
two  years,  in  order  that  the  narrative  of  this  period  of  his  life 
should  be  unbroken.  It  is  not  only  the  doings  of  the  man  that 
have  been  noted,  but  of  the  Provost,  for  it  seems  almost 
impossible  to  separate  the  man  from  the  incumbent,  as  the 
influences  which  he  carried  with  him  were  felt  more  or  less  by 
the  College  ;  his  individuality  and  force  impressed  themselves 
upon  every  undertaking  in  which  he  took  an  interest,  and  what 
work  was  there  in  which  he  had  a  share  in  which  he  did  not 
fully  interest  himself? 

The  subject  of  a  Library  had  forced  itself  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Trustees.  At  the  meeting  at  which  the  Provost's 
arrest  was  reported,  4  February,  1758,  a  Minute  records  : 

It  being  represented  to  the  Trustees  that  many  of  the  Students  in  the 
Philosophy  School  had  been  very  deficient  in  their  Exercises  and  other- 
ways  much  retarded  in  their  Studies  for  Want  of  a  Library  furnished  with 
suitable  Books  in  the  different  Branches  of  Science,  the  Clerk  was  there- 
fore directed  to  acquaint  the  Trustees  by  the  next  written  Notices  that  a 
Proposal  was  under  consideration  for  granting  a  sum  of  money  to  be  laid 
out  in  purchasing  an  assortment  of  approved  Authors  for  the  Use  of  the 
College,  a  list  of  which  was  laid  before  the  Trustees  at  this  Meeting. 

No  further  reference  to  this  present  effort  appears,  but  it 
was  successful.  On  9  February,  1762, 

Mr  William  Dunlap  having  been  so  good  as  to  make  a  present  of  some 
books  to  the  College,  the  Catalogue  was  read  over  and  the  Books 
examined  therewith  having  been  first  placed  in  their  proper  order  upon 

Shelves. 

And  two  years  later  we  find  the  subject  a  matter  of  action  ;  on 
10  April,  1764, 

Mr  Peters  and  Mr  Duch6  are  appointed  a  Committee  to  inspect  the 
College  Library,  taking  Professor  Ewing  to  their  Assistance,  and  to  com- 
pare it  with  the  Catalogue  which  after  their  examination  is  to  be  inserted 
in  the  Minutes.  And  further  that  they  examine  the  Apparatus  for  Experi- 
mental Philosophy  and  compare  it  with  the  Catalogue,  which  is  likewise  to 
be  inserted  in  the  Minutes  ; 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        337 

which  latter  however,  the  Clerk  failed  to  do,  and  thus  deprived 
us  of  the  pleasure  of  knowing  the  works  of  a  College  Library 
at  that  day. 

Professor  Ewing's  name  first  appeared  in  the  Minutes  of 
22  November,  1758,  when  provision  had  to  be  made  to  supply 
Mr.  Smith's  place,  who  was  then  granted  leave  to  depart  for 
England  : 

The  President  further  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  Mr  Ewing,  late 
Professor  and  teacher  of  the  Mathematics  in  the  new  College  erected  at 
Princeton  in  New  Jersey,  was  represented  to  him  as  a  Person  capable  of 
continuing  Mr  Smith's  Lectures  in  the  Philosophical  Classes,  and  of 
instructing  the  Students  in  the  several  Branches  of  Knowledge  alloted  to 
Mr  Smith,  and  that  it  was  believed  he  would  readily  give  his  Assistance  in 
the  Academy  till  Mr  Smith's  return.  The  Trustees  desired  Mr  Peters 
would  immediately  write  to  Mr  Ewing  to  know  if  he  would  supply  the 
Place  of  Mr  Smith  in  the  Philosophical  Classes,  and  if  he  should  accept, 
and  be  found  capable  of  this  service  then  to  engage  him  on  such  Terms 
as  could  be  agreed  to,  to  be  paid  by  Mr  Smith  out  of  his  Salary.  [And 
with  further  concern  for  the  College,  whose  interests  doubtless  felt  the 
depressing  effects  of  all  the  political  turmoil  in  which  its  head  was 
involved,]  The  Professors  were  ordered  to  attend  upon  this  occasion  and 
desire  respectively  to  give  their  assistance  in  their  respective  services  to  the 
Students  under -Mr  Smith's  care  and  to  Mr  Ewing  or  whoever  else  should 
be  got  to  supply  his  Place,  and  they  with  the  utmost  Cheerfulness,  each  for 
himself,  declared  Nothing  should  be  wanting  in  their  Power  to  serve  the 
Students  and  likewise  Mr  Ewing  or  any  other  Gentleman  who  should  be 
employed  to  do  Mr.  Smith's  Duty. 

At  this  meeting  attended  Messrs.  Peters,  White,  Cadwalader, 
Allen,  Stedman,  Maddox,  P.  Bond,  M'Call,  Mifflin,  Inglis,  T. 
Bond,  Plumsted,  Turner  and  Shippen.  It  was  a  grave  moment, 
and  called  out  a  larger  number  than  customary  of  the  Trustees; 
two  of  whom,  Maddox  and  Mifflin,  were  now  to  meet  with  them 
no  more. 

At  the  following  meeting,  on  12  December, 

the  President  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  having  wrote  to  Mr.  Ewing, 
according  to  the  Desire  of  the  Trustees  at  the  last  Meeting  he  had  been 
kind  enough  to  come  to  Town,  and  had,  by  Way  of  Trial,  assisted  Mr 
Alison  in  reading  the  Lectures  and  giving  the  Instructions  to  the  Students 
in  the  highest  classes  in  the  same  Manner  Mr.  Smith  used  to  do,  and 


338       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

appeared  to  be  extremely  well  qualified  and  the  Students  having  expressed 
•their  Satisfaction  to  Mr  Peters  he  should,  with  their  leave,  proceed  to  engage 
his  Service  upon  the  best  Terms  he  could  make  with  him,  which  they 
desired  might  be  done. 

Thus  was  begun  a  connection  with  the  institution  which 
lasted  until  Dr.  Ewing's  death  in  1802;  appointed  Pro- 
fessor of  Natural  Philsophy  in  1762,  he  was  made  Provost 
of  the  new  institution  which  in  1779  took  the  place  of  the 
College  and  Academy,  and  in  turn  became  the  first  Provost  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  institution  which  carried  on 
the  work  and  the  traditions  of  both. 

Vice-Provost  Alison  was  ably  assisted  by  Mr.  Ewing,  and 
the  Senior  Class  proceeded  without  interruption  to  the  com- 
pletion of  their  studies.  On  6  April,  1759,  the  Trustees  met 
"in  the  common  Hall,"  namely  Messrs.  Peters,  White,  Cad- 
walader,  Turner,  Stedman,  E.  Shippen,  M'Call,  Inglis,  Strettell, 
T.  Bond,  Plumsted,  P.  Bond,  Chew,  W.  Shippen,  and  Leech, 
and  attended 

a  Public  Examination  held  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor,  several 
strangers  of  Distinction,  and  many  of  the  Citizens,  when  the  under  named 
Students  were  examined, 

Samuel  Powel  Samuel  Keene 

William  Paca  Alexander  Lawson 

John  Beard  Nathaniel  Chapman 

William  Edmiston 

£and  on  the  day  following,  the  day  being  Saturday]  the  examination  was 
continued  and  the  Students  having  acquitted  themselves  to  the  Satis- 
faction of  the  Trustees  and  all  present,  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
the  Trustees  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  the  first  Degree  of  the 
Batchelor  of  Arts  ;  and  that  the  Commencement  should  be  held  on  the 
eighth  of  June,  and  Notice  be  given  thereof  in  the  Gazette. 

At  this  last  meeting, 

the  Reverend  Mr  Hector  Alison  and  the  Reverend  Mr  John  Ewing,  Assis- 
tant Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  absence  of  the  Provost, 
petitioned  that  the  honorary  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  might  be  conferred 
upon  them  at  the  next  commencement  ;  and  it  appearing  that  they  merited 
the  same,  their  Request  was  granted. 

At  the  meeting   on  8  May,  Messrs.    Peters,    Coleman   and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        339 

Edward   Shipper)   alone  attended,  but  the  minute  of  their  pro- 
ceedings recites : 

The  two  Charity  Schools  were  visited,  the  Boys  and  Girls  examined 
as  to  their  Reading,  Writing  and  casting  Accounts,  and  it  appeared  that  they 
were  carefully  instructed.  The  copy  Books  of  the  Boys  in  the  Latin  School 
•were  likewise  examined  and  it  is  recommended  to  Prof.  Beveridge  that  the 
Boys  attended  their  writing  more  diligently. 


LIL 

The  second  Commencement  Day  arrived,  7  June,  1759,  and 
was  duly  advertised,  "  at  which  time  the  Company  of  all  that 
please  to  attend  will  be  very  acceptable."  l  The  Trustees  met, 
and  the  three  undergraduates  who  met  with  no  Commencement 
in  1758,  Andrew  and  James  Allen  and  John  Morris, 

reminded  the  Trustees  that  they  had  finished  their  Studies  and  had  under- 
gone a  public  Examination  last  year,2  and  were  favored  with  their 
Approbation,  and  therefore,  with  their  leave,  they  proposed  to  offer  them- 
selves for  the  Degree  of  Batchelor  of  Arts,  and  requested  a  Mandate  to  the 
Faculty  to  admit  them, 

which  was  granted  them;  and  then  "the  Vice  Provost  presented 
to  the  Trustees  "  the  young  men  who  had  passed  their  Exami- 
nation in  April,  together  with  John  Hall, 

as  Candidates  for  the  Degree  of  Batchelor  of  Arts,  informing  them,  that 
they  had  finished  their  Studies,  had  undergone  a  public  examination,  and 
were  well  qualified  ;  whereupon  the  Trustees  issued  the  written  Mandate 
under  their  Hands  and  the  privy  seal  of  their  College,  directed  to  the 
Provost,  Vice  Provost  and  Professors  requiring  them  to  admit  said  Students 
to  the  Degree  of  Batchelor  of  Arts,  and  likewise  they  gave  a  like  Mandate 
to  admit  the  Reverend  Mr  Hector  Alison,  now  on  Duty  as  Chaplain  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Regiment,  and  the  Reverend  Mr  John  Ewing,  their  present 
Lecturer  in  Natural  Philosophy  to  the  honorary  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

1  Penna.  Gazette,  ^  June,  1759. 

3  This  may  have  been  had  on  Monday,  14  August,  1758,  notice  for  which  was 
advertised  in  the  Penna.  Gazette,  10  August. 


340        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  minute  then  proceeds  to  narrate,  by  way  of  making  a 
record  of  the  Commencement  exercises  : 

After  which  the  Trustees  repaired  to  the  Academy  Hall,  preceded  by 
the  candidatesjfor  Degrees  in  their  Gowns,  and  the  members  of  the  Faculty 
in  their  Gowns,  and  were  followed  by  the  Masters  and  Tutors  of  the 
several  schools  at  the  head  of  the  Junior  Classes  aud  the  Scholars,  who 
walked  in  Procession,  two  by  two  ;  and  having  respectively  taken  their 
Seats,  the  Commencement  was  opened  by  Prayers,  performed  after  the 
Rites  of  the  Church  of  England  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Peters,  President. 

The  honorable  the  Governor,  several  officers  of  the  Army,  a  great 
many  Gentlemen  of  this  and  the  other  Colonies  and  a  number  of  Ladies 
and  Citizens  were  pleased  to  favor  us  with  their  Presence. 

There  was  a  great  Variety  of  entertaining  Orations  and  public  Dispu- 
tations in  the  Latin  and  English  languages,  in  which  the  Students,  acquit- 
ting themselves  with  universal  applause,  the  Rev  Mr  Alison,  who  presided 
according  to  Charter,  in  the  absence  of  the  Provost,  conferred  the  several 
Degrees  as  directed  by  the  two  Mandates. 

At  the  close  of  this  Ceremony,  which  was  performed  in  a  very  solemn 
Manner,  the  Vice  Provost  made  a  serious  Address  to  the  Graduates,  exhort- 
ing them  to  fear  God,  prosecute  their  Studies,  and  make  it  the  whole 
Endeavor  of  their  Lives  to  become  as  useful  as  possible  in  their  respective 
Stations,  and  to  consider  this  World  as  preparative  for  the  Fruition  of  our 
holy  GOD,  in  that  glorious  State  of  Immortality,  which  through  the  Merits 
of  our  blessed  Saviour,  was  to  succeed  this  transitory  life.  And  then  con- 
cluded with  a  suitable  Prayer. 

It  gave  the  Trustees  a  very  sensible  Pleasure  to  hear  the  Commenda- 
tions that  were  given  of  the  whole  Performances  by  almost  every  Body 
present. 

Of  the  distinguished  class  who  received  their  degrees  this 
day,  Andrew  Allen  and  Samuel  Powel  in  later  years  became 
Trustees  of  the  College,  the  former  being  a  member  of  the 
Council ;  William  Paca  became  a  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  Governor  of  Maryland  ;  John  Morris  became 
Master  of  the  Rolls  of  Pennsylvania  ;  John  Beard  a  Tutor  in 
the  College  ;  and  William  Edmiston  and  Samuel  Keene  entered 
the  ministry.  By  the  Treasurer's  books  we  find  that  Keene  was 
tutoring  during  his  last  year  at  College. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       341 


LIII. 

It  was  during  the  controversies  of  the  past  year  and  before 
Mr.  Ewing  was  called  to  take  the  Provost's  classes  in  his  absence, 
that  another  Professor  was  added  to  the  Faculty.  At  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Trustees  on  13  June,  "  the  State  of  the  Latin  School 
was  taken  into  consideration  ;  Mr.  Alison  declared  that  the 
Philosophy  Schools  were  so  full,  that  in  his  present  state  of 
health  he  could  not  continue  to  attend  and  recommended  it  to 
the  Trustees  to  supply  that  place  as  soon  as  possible."  Where- 
upon, 

Mr  Peters  informed  the  Trustees  that  Mr  Beveridge  was  come  to  town  in 
consequence  of  the  Letters  wrote  to  him  by  Mr  Smith,  Mr  Alison  and  Mr 
Jackson;  that  he  had  examined  him  in  a  close  manner,  by  which  he  was 
satisfied  as  to  his  Knowledge  of  the  Latin,  and  as  his  Testimonials  certified 
the  same,  as  well  as  that  he  was  a  man  of  Virtue  and  good  morals,  he  was 
of  opinion  that  he  would  make  an  excellent  Master.  [Testimonials  were 
submitted  from]  the  Ruddimans  and  others  of  eminent  character  in  Edin- 
burgh and  from  the  gentlemen  Trustees  of  Hereford  School.  [He]  was 
called  in,  and  after  sometime  spent  in  Conversation,  withdrew.  The  Ques- 
tion hereupon  was  put  whether  he  should  be  appointed  to  the  Professorship 
of  the  Languages,  and  the  care  of  the  Latin  School,  [and  the  vote  was 
unanimous  in  his  favor.]  He  was  called  in  again  and  accepted  on  the 
same  terms  with  Mr  Jackson,  but  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  some 
time  in  August,  his  affairs  required  his  being  at  Hereford,  and  prayed 
the  Trustees  he  might  be  allowed  to  go  there  in  order  to  settle  his  concerns 
and  bring  his  Family  to  Town.  In  his  younger  years  he  taught  a  grammar 
school  in  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  under  the  particular  patronage  of  the 
great  Mr  Ruddiman. 

William  Smith,  in  the  last  number  of  the  American  Maga- 
zine, October,  1758,  speaks  warmly  of  his  attainments  as  a  classi- 
cal scholar,  and  quotes  some  of  his  Latin  verses  : 

By  the  specimens  he  has  given,  he  will  undoubtedly  be  acknowledged 
one  of  the  ablest  masters  in  the  Latin  Tongue  on  this  continent  ;  and  it  is 
a  singular  happiness  to  the  institution  that  on  the  vacancy  of  a  professor  of 
languages,  the  Trustees  were  directed  to  such  an  excellent  choice,  as  it  must 
be  the  certain  means  of  increasing  the  number  of  students  from  all  parts, 
with  such  as  are  desirous  of  attaining  the  Latin  tongue  in  its  native  purity 
and  beauty.1 

1  American  Magazine,  p.  640. 


342        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Alexander  Graydon  says  of  him  "  he  was  no  disciplinarian, 
and  consequently  very  unequal  to  the  management  of  seventy 
or  eighty  boys."  From  his  student's  view,  he  records  this 
description  of  him  : 

The  person  whose  pupil  I  was  consequently  to  become,  was  Mr  John 
Beveridge,  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  retained  the  smack  of  his  vernacular 
tongue  in  its  primitive  purity.  His  acquaintance  with  the  language  he 
taught,  was,  I  believe  justly  deemed  to  be  very  accurate  and  profound. 
But  as  to  his  other  acquirements,  after  excepting  the  game  of  backgammon, 
in  which  he  was  said  to  excel,  truth  will  not  warrant  me  in  saying  a  great 
deal.  He  was,  however,  diligent  and  laborious  in  his  attention  to  his 
school  ;  and  had  he  possessed  the  faculty  of  making  himself  beloved  by 
his  scholars,  and  of  exciting  their  emulation  and  exertion,  nothing  would 
have  been  wanting  to  an  entire  qualification  for  his  office.  But,  unfortu- 
nately, he  had  no  dignity  of  character,  and  was  no  less  destitute  of  the  art 
of  making  himself  respected  than  beloved.  Though  not  perhaps  to  be 
complained  of  as  intolerably  severe,  he  yet  made  a  pretty  free  use  of  the 
ratan  and  the  ferule,  but  this  to  very  Itttle  purpose.  *  *  *  So  entire 
was  the  want  of  respect  towards  him,  and  so  liable  was  he  to  be  imposed 
upon,  that  one  of  the  larger  boys,  for  a  wager,  once  pulled  off  his  wig, 
which  he  effected  by  suddenly  twitching  it  from  his  head  under  pretence  of 
brushing  from  it  a  spider  ;  and  the  unequivocal  insult  was  only  resented  by 
the  peevish  exclamation  of  hoot  mon  ! 2 

In  preparing  their  plans  for  the  Fall  term  of  1759 — for  the 
Provost  was  yet  detained  in  England — some  changes  were  made 
necessary  in  the  corps  of  teachers.  Dr.  Peters  reported  to  the 
Trustees,  14  August,  that 

Mr.  Kinnersley  still  continued  very  bad,  and  that  he  had  not  been  able 
for  some  time  past  to  attend  the  English  School,  and  that  he  had  prevailed 
upon  Mr.  Montgomery  to  supply  his  Place,  and  he  had  the  Pleasure  to  let 
them  know  that  the  Scholars  were  well  instructed.  *  *  *  Mr.  Grew  was 
fallen  into  Consumption,  and  not  being  able  to  attend  the  school,  Mr. 
Pratt  the  Writing  Master,  for  the  present  supply' d  his  Place.  *  *  * 
Mr.  Latta  being  obliged,  in  consequence  of  an  order  of  the  Synod,  to  go  to 
Virginia  and  Carolina  this  Fall,  and  there  to  officiate  as  an  itinerant  Preacher, 
had  given  them  notice  that  he  could  not  continue  after  the  middle  of 
October.  *  *  *  Mr.  Morton  now  one  of  the  Tutors  in  the  Latin 
School  had  given  them  Notice  of  his  Intentions  to  accept  an  Invitation  he 
had  received  to  take  the  charge  of  the  Public  School  at  Bohemia 

2 Memoirs,  p.  35. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       343 

[Maryland],  and  made  them  the  most  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the 
many  Favors  they  had  conferred  upon  him  and  particularly  for  their  late 
Advancement  of  him  into  the  Latin  School,  intimating  at  the  same 
time  that  if  these  should  be  a  vacancy  in  the  English  School  and  they 
should  think  him  worthy  of  that  Professorship,  it  might  induce  him  to  alter 
his  intentions.8 

At  the  meeting  of  1 1  September,  Mr.  Montgomery,  upon  his 
petition,  was  appointed  an  Usher  in  the  Latin  School  on  trial, 
to  fill  one  of  the 

Places  which  were  Vacant  in  the  Latin  School  by  the  going  away  of  Mr 
Latta  and  Mr  Morton,  and  Mr  Peters  and  Mr  Alison  reporting  that  he  was 
a  good  Latin  and  Greek  Scholar,  and  in  other  respects  well  qualified. 

And  at  the  meeting  of  9  October,  he  was  confirmed  as  an  Usher 
and  John  Beard,  a  graduate  at  the  the  last  Commencement,  was 
also  elected  an  Usher  in  the  Latin  School.  Joseph  Montgomery, 
who  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  the  class  of  1755,  did  not 
continue  in  this  connection  longer  than  May,  1760.  He  entered 
the  Presbyterian  ministry,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress  from  1780  to  I784.4  Mr.  Grew  soon  fell  a  victim  to 
his  consumption ;  and  at  the  meeting  of  1 1  December  fol- 
lowing 

It  was  further  agreed  that  our  want  of  a  Mathematical  Master  should  be 
advertised  in  the  next  Gazette,  and  the  Provost  was  instructed  to  draw  and 
insert  a  proper  advertisement 

Within  a  twelvemonth  two  vacancies  occurred  among  the 
Trustees  by  death  :  to  succeed  Mr.  Francis,  Edward  Shippen, 
jr.,  his  pupil  and  his  son-in-law,  and  the  nephew  of  Dr.  William 
Shippen  the  Trustee,  was  elected  on  12  September,  1/58  ;  and  to 
succeed  Mr  Mifflin,  William  Coxe,  also  a  son-in-law  of  Mr  Fran- 
cis, was  elected  on  1 1  July,  1759. 


3  Mr.  Morton  subsequently  took   orders  in   the   Church   of   England,  being 
ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London  17  March,  1760,  and  licensed  for  Missionary  work 
in  New  Jersey.     Later  we  find  him  Rector  of  St.  Thomas'  Church,  I lunterdon  Co., 
New  Jersey,  and  officiating  at  Easton,  Penna.    Penna.  Magazine,  x.  258.     Perry's 
History  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  i.  243. 

4  Memoir  by  his  great  grandson,  Hon.  J.  Montgomery  Forster. 


344        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LIV. 

Provost  Smith,  as  has  been  seen,  was  detained  in  England 
longer  than  was  anticipated,  and  he  arrived  home  early  in 
October,  the  day  before  the  monthly  meeting  of  the  Trustees. 
On  the  gth,  only  three  of  the  Trustees  being  in  attendance, 
Messrs.  Peters,  Stedman  and  Strettell,  business  was  proceeded 
with,  the  Provost  was  received,  and  the  pleasant  event  recorded 
at  full  in  the  Minutes  : 

The  Reverend  Mr  Provost  Smith  arrived  yesterday  from  England  and 
was  very  kindly  and  affectionately  received.  He  expressed  great  concern  for 
his  long  absence,  and  hoped  that  as  he  had  obtained  the  Royal  order  in 
his  favour,  he  should  for  the  future  be  able  to  discharge  his  Duty  without 
any  interruption.  He  informed  the  Trustees  that  this  Academy  was  in 
high  Esteem  in  Great  Britain  and  was  well  assured  the  Institution  would 
find  many  warm  and  good  Friends  among  the  best  personages  in  that  King- 
dom, and  having  had  the  Honour  of  receiving  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  from  the  University  of  Oxford  which  had  been  conferred  on  him 
at  the  joint  request  and  recommendation  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  many  of  the  principal  Bishops,  he  produced  his  diploma,  the  preamble 
of  which  being  much  to  his  credit,  as  well  as  the  credit  of  this  Seminary,  is 
here  inserted1  [at  full  in  the  minutes  in  the  original  Latin]. 

But  a  more  substantial  gift  than  this  was  the  subject  of  the 
next  minute: 

The  Provost  likewise  brought  over  with  him,  and  delivered  to  the 
Trustees,  a  Deed  of  Gift  from  the  Honorable  Thomas  Penn  assigning  over 
to  them  in  their  Corporate  Capacity  for  the  use  of  the  Institution  his  fourth 
part  of  the  Manor  of  Perkasie  in  Bucks  County  containing  Two  Thousand 
Five  hundred  Acres  which  the  Trustees  considered  as  a  noble  Benefaction 
from  that  worthy  gentleman,  and  was  received  with  a  due  sense  of 
gratitude. 

Thomas  Penn's  concern  for  the  College  had  been  kept  warm 
by  his  Secretary,  the  President  of  the  Trustees,  who  had  furnished 
him  from  time  to  time — as  we  have  seen — with  the  work  of  the 


1  This  refers  to  him,  reverendum  et  egregium  virum  Gulielmum  Smith,  ex 
Academia  Aberdonensi  in  Artibus  magistrum,  et  Collegii  apud  Philadelphiam  in 
Pennsylvania  Prrepositum,  etc.,  etc.,  but  does  not  allude  to  Aberdeen's  Doc- 
torate. In  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  the  ex  Academia  Aberdonensis  in  Artibus 
Magistrum  is  omitted. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       345 

pupils  to  inform  him  as  to  the  progress  of  the  College  and  its  influ- 
ence upon  them  ;  and  his  interest  in  it  was  further  fostered  by  a 
reasonable  desire  that  the  province,  which  was  of  his  Father's 
settlement,  and  bore  his  name,  should  thus  be  honored  by  an 
educational  establishment  of  growing  repute.  And  the  young 
Scotch  Provost  won  his  sympathies  and  earned  his  regard,  and 
he  now  made  him  the  happy  messenger  of  his  kind  thoughts 
and  the  bearer  of  his  benefaction  to  the  College. 

The  Trustees  and  Students  were  shortly  afforded  one  of 
those  civil  exhibitions,  so  common  yet  so  useful  in  a  loyal 
Province,  which  the  Provost  was  skilful  in  devising  and  execut- 
ing. The  December  meeting  found  present  Messrs.  Peters, 
Plumsted,  Cadwalader,  Turner,  Chew,  Allen,  Coleman,  W.  Ship- 
pen,  Stedman,  Strettell,  White,  P.  Bond,  M'Call,  and 

Mr  Hamilton,  who  was  again  appointed  by  the  Honourable  the  Proprie- 
taries to  the  Government  of  this  Province,  having  been  pleased  to  resume 
his  seat  as  one  of  the  Trustees.1  *  *  *  And  being  received  at  the  Gate, 
was  conducted  up  to  the  Experiment  Room,  to  take  his  place  among  the 
other  Trustees.  *  *  *  and  after  paying  him  their  Compliments  of 
Congratulation  on  his  safe  arrival  and  Reappointment  they  attended  him 
into  the  Hall8  followed  by  the  Masters,  Tutors,  Graduates  and  Students, 
in  orderly  procession,  where  being  seated  the  following  address,  and  con- 
gratulatory verses  were  delivered  in  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of 
Citizens.4 

1 .  The  address  by  the  Provost,    attended  by  the  rest  of  the  Faculty. 

2.  The  Latin  verses,  presented   by  the   Rev.  Jacob  Duch^,  A.  M., 
attended  by  a  deputation  from  the  Graduates  and  Philosophy  Schools  ;  the 
verses  being  written  by  Professor  Beveridge. 

Nonne  hinc  Schulkillius  amnis, 
Hinc  Delavarus  item,  sedesque  paterna  salutant. 

3.  The  English   Verses,  by   Mr  William  Hamilton,  attended   by  a 
deputation  from  the  Lower  Schools. 

O  !  Friend  to  Science,  Liberty  and  Truth, 
Patron  of  Virtue,  Arts  and  rising  Youth  ; 
Indulge  our  weak  Attempts!  with  Smiles  approve 
This  humble  Boon  of  Gratitude  and  Love. 


»  He  had  not  attended  the  Trustees'  meetings  since  that  of  17  August,  1757. 

*  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  27  December,  1759. 

*  Minutes  of  Trustees. 


346          HISTORY    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  answer  to  these  the  Governor  replied  : 

Gentleman  of  the  Faculty  :  I  thank  you  for  this  Kind  Address  of  your 
Body,  and  for  the  Marks  of  Regard  shewn  to  me  by  the  Youth  educated 
under  your  Care. 

I  should  think  myself  greatly  wanting  in  the  Duties  of  my  Station,  if 
I  did  not  countenance  every  Institution  for  the  Advancement  of  useful 
Knowledge  :  and  I  am  so  sensible  of  the  particular  good  Tendency  of  this 
Seminary,  whereof  I  became  an  early  Promoter,  that  I  shall  always  be 
happy  in  affording  it  every  reasonable  Degree  of  Encouragement  in  my 
Power. 

I  am  glad  to  find  it  growing  in  Reputation,  by  means  of  the  Youths 
raised  in  it,  and  doubt  not  but  it  will  continue  to  do  so,  under  the  Direction 
of  Gentlemen,  who  have  given  unquestionable  Proofs  of  their  Capacity,  and, 
on  that  Account,  have  received  the  highest  honors  from  some  of  the  most 
learned  Societies  in  Great  Britain. 

After  these  grateful  exercises,  instead  of  proceeding  to  a 
lunch  and  social  intercourse,  the  Trustees  returned  to  the  Exper- 
iment or  Apparatus  Room,  and  resuming  their  business,  took 
kindly  action  towards  the  aid  of  the  widow  of  Professor  Grew. 

A  scheme  was  now  on  foot  to  make  all  the  exhibitions  and 
services  in  the  Hall  more  attractive  by  securing  an  organ  for 
their  accompaniment.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  27  Decem- 
ber, 1757,  tells  us  : 

By  permission  and  particular  desire  towards  the  raising  a  Fund  for 
purchasing  an  organ  to  the  College  Hall  in  this  city  and  instructing  the 
charity  children  in  Psalmody,  at  the  Theatre,  in  Society  Hill,  this  evening 
will  be  presented,  the  tragical  and  interesting  History  of  George  Bamwell. 
N.  B.  As  this  Benefit  is  wholly  intended  for  improving  our  Youth  in  the 
divine  art  of  PSALMODY  and  CHURCH  Music,  in  order  to  render  the  Enter- 
tainment of  the  Town  more  compleat  at  Commencements  and  other  public 
occasions  in  our  College  *  *  *  To  begin  exactly  at  6  o'clock. 

We  see  here  the  hand  of  young  Francis  Hopkinson,  whose 
musical  accomplishments  were  being  turned  to  pleasant  use  not 
only  on  behalf  of  his  Alma  Mater,  but  to  Christ  Church  as  well, 
where  the  Vestry  a  few  years  later  voted  him  their  thanks  for 
his  "  great  and  constant  pains  in  teaching  and  instructing  the 
children."  The  organ  was  procured  and  in  place  for  the  com- 
mencement of  1760,  when 

The  Orations,   Disputations,    and  other  Academical  Exercises  were 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        347 

agreeably  intermixed  with  sundry  Anthems  and  Pieces  of  Psalmody,  sung 
by  the  Charity  Boys,  attended  with  an  organ,  which  the  Liberality  of  the 
Town  lately  bestowed.  At  the  close  of  the  whole,  the  Audience  was  most 
delightfully  entertained  with  two  Anthems  sung  by  several  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen,  who  have  not  been  ashamed  to  employ  their  Leisure  Hours  in 
learning  to  celebrate  their  Master's  Praises  with  Grace  and  Elegance.* 

And  we  have  already  noted  how  Hopkinson  "  conducted  the 
organ  with  that  bold  masterly  Hand  for  which  he  is  celebrated." 


LV. 

The  Commencement  of  1760,  on  I  May,  we  are  told,  "was 
held  in  the  College  of  this  city,  before  a  vast  Concourse  of  Peo- 
ple of  all  Ranks  and  Distinctions,"  and  the  Degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  Patrick  Alison,  Chaplain  to  Congress 
in  1776,  Thomas  Bond,  jr.,  son  of  Dr.  Bond,  Lindsay  Coates 
Robert  Goldsborough,  of  Maryland,  Whitmel  Hill,  of  North 
Carolina,  John  Johnson,  Thomas  Mifflin,  Governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania from  1790  to  1799,  and  Robert  Yorke ;  and  the  Degree 
of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  Duche,  Hopkinson,  Latta, 
Magaw,  Morgan,  and  Williamson  in  course,  and  upon  Josiah 
Martin,  jr.,  formerly  with  those  of  the  class  of  1757,  and  who 
took  the  honorary  degree  of  B.  A.  with  them  in  that  year,  and 
Joseph  Montgomery  who  earned  his  degree  at  Princeton  in  the 
class  of  1755. 

The  Trustees  were  of  opinion  that  it  might  be  of  service  to  the 
Institution  to  confer  Honorary  Degrees  on  some  of  the  Ministers  and  Gen- 
tlemen of  this  and  the  Neighboring  Colonies  who  were  of  distinguished 
character^  for  their  usefulness  and  Learning.  And  it  appearing  to  them 
that  the  following  Gentlemen  were  such,  a  Mandate  issued  under  their 
Hands  and  the  Lesser  Seal,  requiring  the  Faculty  to  admit  them  to  the 
Honorary  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts;  viz. :  the  Reverend  Mr  Samuel  Davis, 


5  Pennsylvania  Gatette,  15  May,  1760.    The  organ  "was  placed  in  the  centre 
of  the  East  Gallery  facing  the  Pulpit,"  according  to  the  Minutes,  p.  117. 


348        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  ;  the  Reverend  Mr  Philip  Reading, 
of  Appoquinimink  ;  the  Reverend  Mr  Thomas  Barton  at  Lancaster  ; 
the  Reverend  Mr  Samuel  Cooke  at  Shrewsbury  ;  the  Reverend  Mr  Robert 
M'Kean  at  Brunswick ;  the  Reverend  Mr  Sampson  Smith  at  Chestnut 
Level  ;  the  Reverend  Mr  Matthew  Wilson  in  Kent  County. 

The  opinion  of  the  value  of  these  degrees  was  not  long 
maintained  by  the  Trustees.  When  Dr.  Alison,  in  1762,  in  the 
Provost's  absence,  made  sundry  recommendations  in  line  with 
the  action  of  1760,  the  Trustees  at  their  meeting  of  n  May 
that  year, 

desired  the  President  to  acquaint  Dr.  Alison  that  it  was  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  Trustees  present  that  the  College  must  lose  Reputation  by 
conferring  too  many  Honorary  Degrees,  and  that  for  the  future  the  Faculty 
would  not  proceed  to  the  Recommendation  of  Persons  for  Honorary 
Degrees  without  first  conferring  with  the  Trustees. 

Only  a  few  weeks  after  the  Commencement  Archdeacon 
Burnaby  in  his  Travels  through  the  Middle  Settlements  in 
North  America  passed  through  Philadelphia  and  among  the 
institutions  in  the  city  he  refers  to  is  the  "Academy  or  College 
originally  built  for  a  tabernacle  for  Mr.  Whitefield  ;  "  and  adds 
"this  institution  is  erected  upon  an  admirable  plan,  and  is  by 
far  the  best  school  for  learning  throughout  America."  T  The 
day  before  the  Commencement  of  1760,  there  assembled  in 
Christ  Church  the  first  Convention  of  the  Church  of  England 
Clergy,  of  which  Dr.  Smith  was  elected  President ;  and  of  the 
number  were  Messrs.  Reading,  Barton,  Cooke  and  McKean, 


1  Travels,  London,  1798,  p.  66.  Dr.  Burnaby's  comments  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vanian  of  the  period  are  graphic  if  not  flattering.  "As  to  character,  they  are  a  frugal 
and  industrious  people;  not  remarkably  courteous  and  hospitable  to  strangers,  unless 
particularly  recommended  to  them ;  but  rather,  like  the  denizens  of  most  commercial 
cities,  the  reverse.  They  are  great  republicans,  and  have  fallen  into  the  same  errors 
in  their  ideas  of  independency  as  most  of  the  other  colonies  have.  They  are  by  far 
the  most  enterprising  people  upon  the  continent.  As  they  consist  of  several  nations, 
and  talk  several  languages,  they  are  aliens  in  some  respect  to  Great  Britain ;  nor  can 
it  be  expected  that  they  should  have  the  same  filial  attachment  to  her  which  her  own 
immediate  offspring  have.  However,  they  are  quiet,  and  concern  themselves  but 
little,  except  about  getting  money."  But  as  a  flattering  offset  to  this,  the  Arch- 
deacon adds:  "The  women  are  exceedingly  handsome  and  polite;  they  are 
naturally  sprightly  and  fond  of  pleasure;  and,  upon  the  whole,  are  much  more 
agreeable  and  accomplished  than  the  men.  Since  their  intercourse  with  the  English 
officers,  they  are  greatly  improved ;  and,  without  flattery,  many  of  them  would  not 
make  bad  figures  in  the  first  assemblies  in  Europe."  p.  67. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       349 

who  were  now  honored  with  the  College  degree.  Dr.  Smith's 
sermon,  preached  before  the  Convention  on  the  day  subsequent 
to  the  Commencement,  forms  the  sixth  in  the  Volume  of  his 
Discourses  of  1762.  A  second  Convention  was  held  in  1761, 
and  the  clergy  who  were  attending  it  went  to  the  Commence- 
ment of  that  year  which  was  held  on  Saturday,  23  May,  in  a 
body,  when  Dr.  Smith  preached  in  the  College  Hall  before 
them. 2  This 

was  held  in  the  College  of  this  City,  before  a  vast  concourse  of  People  of 
all  Ranks.  *  *  *  There  was  performed  in  the  Forenoon  an  elegant 
Anthem  composed  by  JAMES  LYONS,  A.  M.,  of  New  Jersey  College,  and 
in  the  afternoon  an  Ode,  sacred  to  the  Memory  of  our  late  gracious  Sov- 
ereign George  II.,  written  and  set  to  Music  in  a  very  grand  and  masterly 
Taste  by  FRANCIS  HOPKINSON,  Esq.,  A.  M.,  of  the  College  of  this  city. 
A  sett  of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  in  order  to  do  Honour  to  the  Entertain- 
ment of  the  Day,  were  kindly  pleased  to  perform  a  Part  both  of  the 
Anthem  and  Ode,  accompanied  by  the  Organ,  which  made  the  Music  a 
very  compleat  and  agreeable  Entertainment  to  all  present. 

An  all  day  Commencement  in  our  time  would  not  be  per- 
mitted in  the  busy  life  of  the  present ;  but  certainly  the  young 
graduates  of  that  time  must  have  had  a  higher  esteem  and  love 
for  their  Alma  Mater  who  thus  made  the  occasion  of  their 
entering  upon  their  first  Degrees  the  scene  of  a  two  sessions' 
entertainment  which  was  so  "  compleat  and  agreeable  "  to  all 
present. 

At  this  commencement  there  graduated,  William  Flem- 
ing, Marcus  Grimes,  James  Hooper,  John  Huston,  William 
Kinnersley,  the  son  of  the  Professor,  Matthew  McHenry, 
Abraham  Ogden,  Richard  Peters,  the  nephew  of  Dr.  Peters, 
Joseph  Shippen,  a  nephew  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  Tench 
Tilghman,  Washington's  Aide-de-Camp,  Henry  Waddell,  Alex- 
ander Wilcocks,  and  Jasper  Yeates, 3  afterwards  a  Justice  of  the 


*  Smith,  i.  276.  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  28  May,  1761.  This  is  Sermon 
XVIII.  of  Smith's  Works  of  1803,  ii.  337,  and  is  there  described  as  "first  preached 
before  the  Trustees,  Masters  and  Scholars  of  the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadel- 
phia at  the  Anniversary  Commencement,  May,  1761;"  but  it  is  the  same  sermon 
which  he  preached  at  the  first  commencement,  and  is  known  as  No.  V.  in  his 
Discourses  of  1759- 

8  His  daughter  Mary  married  in  1791,  Charles  Smith,  the  son  of  Provost 
Smith. 


35O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania  ;  a  class  of  thirteen,  the  largest 
up  to  the  year  1770.  Of  these,  Peters  and  Wilcocks  became  in 
later  years  Trustees  of  the  College.4  But  two  Masters'  Degrees 
were  conferred,  namely,  on  the  Rev.  Isaac  Eaton,  and  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Stillman. 

The  Commencements  of  1762  and  1763  were  without 
the  presence  of  the  Provost,  who  was  during  the  period 
covering  these  events  on  his  tour  through  England  making 
collections  from  the  friends  of  education  in  the  colonies 
towards  the  new  College  which  was  growing  up  with  bright 
promises  in  Pennsylvania;  and  1764  was  also  without  any 
graduating  Class,  Dr.  Smith  arriving  home  in  June  of  that 
year.  While  his  continued  absence  affected  the  number  of 
students  in  attendance  in  the  instruction  of  the  College,  his 
visit  abroad  proved  of  that  substantial  benefit  which  enabled 
the  Trustees  to  strengthen  financially  the  foundations  of  the 
institution  and  to  enlarge  their  abilities  in  accommodating  the 
coming  numbers  of  the  future  years. 


*  It  was  on  4  September  of  this  year  that  Dr.  Smith  preached  on  the  Great  Duty 
of  Public  Worship  at  the  opening  services  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Philadelphia.  This 
forms  part  II.  of  No.  VI.  in  the  Discourses  of  1759,  and  No.  VII.  in  the  Discourses 
of  1762. 


HlSTORV    OF   THE     UNIVERSITY    OF     PENNSYLVANIA.  35 1 


LVL 

In  the  midst  of  the  concerns  of  the  Trustees  for  the  man- 
agement of  their  Trust,  a  new  question  had  arisen  in  1 760, 
bearing  on  the  desire  of  some  of  the  Professors  to  take  private 
pupils.  The  matter  must  have  been  of  moment,  for  serious  con- 
sideration was  given  to  it  by  them  at  their  meeting  of  8  July  in 
that  year. 

Mr  Peters,  at  the  Instance  of  the  Faculty,  acquainted  the  Trustees 
that  several  applications  had  been  made  to  one  of  the  Professors,  to  give 
private  Instructions  after  School  Hours  to  some  of  the  Boys  that  were  under 
his  Care  during  the  Day,  but  that  it  was  not  thought  proper  to  do  anything 
of  this  kind  without  the  particular  direction  of  the  Trustees,  to  which  all 
the  Masters  declared  themselves  always  ready  to  conform.  The  matter 
was  fully  debated  at  the  Board,  and  being  represented  that  this  Method  of 
allowing  the  publick  Professors  to  become  private  Tutors  to  any  parcel  of 
the  Youth  under  their  general  Management  would  be  attended  with  many 
Inconveniences;  that  it  would  lead  to  disagreeable  distinctions  among  the 
Youth,  discourage  many  of  the  poorer  sort  who  could  not  afford  the 
Expence  of  private  Tuition,  and  subject  the  Masters  to  the  suspicion  of 
partiality  in  Favour  of  those  who  could  afford  it,  as  well  as  bring  the  Insti- 
tution into  Disrepute  by  encouraging  a  Notion  that  the  general  Scheme  of 
Education  was  not  sufficient  without  these  private  helps.  The  Trustees  in 
consideration  of  all  this,  and  in  Regard  to  their  original  Faith  to  the  Pub- 
lick  (viz:  to  keep  all  the  Youth,  as  much  as  might  be  on  an  equal  footing) 
were  unanimously  of  Opinion  that  none  of  the  Publick  Professors  should 
make  any  Distinctions  among  the  Youth  under  their  care  in  respect  to 
their  Tuition,  but  that  such  parent  or  Guardians  as  were  desirous  of  having 
any  extraordinary  helps  for  any  particular  Scholar  or  Pupil  might  supply 
themselves  with  private  Tutors  where  they  could  be  found. 

So  far  for  the  regulation  by  the  Trustees  of  what  was 
claimed  to  be  ill  practices  among  the  Professors.  The  latter 
themselves  felt  the  need  of  revising  the  Rules  of  the  school,  and 
on  10  February,  1761, 

having  prepared  a  Draught  of  several  necessary  Statutes  the  same  was 
presented  by  them  to  the  Trustees  for  their  approbation  and  being  read 
paragraph  by  paragraph  several  Debates  arose  thereupon,  and  the  Presi- 
dent, Mr  Stedman,  Mr  Coxe,  and  Mr  Willing  were  appointed  a  Committee 
to  revise  and  amend  the  Draught  agreeable  to  the  Sense  of  the  Trustees 


352        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

first  acquainting  the  Faculty  with  their  Sentiments  in  the  several  Points  in 
which  they  differed  from  them  and  conferring  with  them  thereupon. 

At  the  following  meeting-,  10  March,  young  Duche  now 
taking  his  seat  as  Trustee. 

Mr  Peters  from  the  Committee  appointed  to  examine  the  Draught  of  the 
Laws  proposed  by  the  Faculty  and  read  at  the  last  Meeting  of  the  Trustees 
reported  that  they  had  conferred  with  the  Provost  and  Vice  Provost  there- 
upon, and  had  made  such  Alterations  therein  as  to  them  appeared  just 
and  proper  which  they  now  submitted  to  the  Trustees,  and  their  amended 
Draught  being  read,  debated,  altered,  settled,  and  approved  of,  they  are 
now  ordered  to  be  entered  as  Statutes  in  Force. 

These  are  very  primitive  and  particular,  and  in  strong  con- 
trast to  the  broader  statutes  of  reason  and  self-respect  which 
prevail  to-day.  One  need  not  wonder  that  the  boys  of  that  day 
were  stung  into  forwardness  and  mischief,  by  a  restraint  that 
their  spirits  rebelled  against.  The  boys  of  to-day  are  the  same 
in  natural  force  aud  youthful  elasticity  as  were  their  ancestors  in 
adolescence ;  but  education  in  its  many  changes  within  a  cen- 
tury has  submitted  to  none  greater  than  the  abandonment  of 
impossible  rules  of  propriety  and  frequent  chastisements.  These 
Rules  and  Ordinances  of  1761  close  with  the  word  chastised, 
but  the  alternative  is  a  money  penalty,  and  the  worth  of  a  chas- 
tisement is  but  sixpence :  the  pence  are  numbered  but  the 
strokes  may  be  without  number.  Who  would  not  rather  suffer 
the  certain  pence  rather  than  the  uncertain  strokes.  Alexander 
Graydon  entered  the  Academy  about  this  period  ;  but  a  visita- 
tion of  Yellow  Fever  early  afforded  him  a  welcome  holiday. 
"About  the  year  1760  or  1761,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection, 
the  city  was  alarmed  by  a  visitation  of  the  Yellow  Fever. 
*  The  schools  were  shut  up,  and  a  vacation  of  five  or 
six  weeks  its  fortunate  consequence."1  He  describes  some  of 
his  early  duties.  "The  task  of  the  younger  boys,  at  least,"  for 
he  was  but  about  eight  years  of  age  when  he  entered, 

consisted  in  learning  to  read  and  to  write  their  mother  tongue  grammati- 
cally, and  one  day  in  the  week  (I  think  Friday)  was  set  apart  for  the  recita- 
tion of  select  passages  in  poetry  and  prose.  For  this  purpose  each  scholar, 

1  Memoirs^  p.  43. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        353 

in  his  turn,  ascended  the  stage,  and  said  his  speech,  as  the  phrase  was. 
This  speech  was  carefully  taught  him  by  his  master,  both  with  respect  to  its 
pronunciation,  and  the  action  deemed  suitable  to  its  several  parts.1 

Let  us  have  his  account  of  his  first  fight,  before  referred  to  : 
A  few  days  after  I  had  been  put  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Kinnersley,  I 
was  told  by  my  classmates,  that  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  fight  a  battle 
with  some  one,  in  order  to  establish  my  claim  to  the  honor  of  being  an 
Academy  boy;  that  this  could  not  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  they  would 
select  for  me  a  suitable  antagonist,  one  of  my  match,  whom  after  school  I 
must  fight,  or  be  looked  upon  as  a  coward.  I  must  confess  that  I  did  not 
at  all  relish  the  proposal.  *  *  *  I  absolutely  declined  the  proposal ; 
although  I  had  too  much  of  that  feeling  about  me,  which  some  might  call 
false  honor,  to  represent  the  case  to  the  master,  which  would  at  once  have 
extricated  me  from  my  difficulty,  and  brought  down  condign  punishment 
on  its  imposers.  Matters  thus  went  on  until  school  was  out,  when  I  found 
that  the  lists  were  appointed,  and  that  a  certain  John  Appowen,  a  lad,  who, 
though  not  quite  so  tall,  yet  better  set  and  older  than  myself,  was  pitted 
against  me.  With  increased  pertinacity  I  again  refused  the  combat,  and 
insisted  on  being  permitted  to  go  home  unmolested.  On  quickening  my 
pace  for  this  purpose,  my  persecutors,  with  Appowen  at  their  head,  followed 
close  at  my  heels.  Upon  this  I  moved  faster  and  faster,  until  my  retreat 
became  a  flight  too  unequivocal  and  inglorious  for  a  man  to  relate  of  him- 
self, had  not  Homer  furnished  some  apology  for  the  procedure,  in  making 
the  heroic  Hector  thrice  encircle  the  walls  of  Troy,  before  he  could  find 
courage  to  encounter  the  implacable  Achilles.  To  cut  the  story  short,  my 
spirit  could  no  longer  brook  an  oppression  so  intolerable,  and  stung  to  the 
quick  at  the  term  coward  which  was  lavished  upon  me,  I  made  a  halt  and 
faced  my  pursuers.  A  combat  immediately  ensued  between  Appowen  and 
myself,  which  for  some  time,  was  maintained  on  each  side,  with  equal 
vigour  and  determination,  when  unluckily  I  received  his  fist  directly  in  my 
gullet  The  blow  for  a  time  depriving  me  of  breath,  and  the  power  of 
resistance,  victory  declared  for  my  adversary,  though  not  without  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  party,  that  I  had  at  last  behaved  well,  and  shown 
myself  not  unworthy  the  name  of  an  Academy  boy.  Being  thus  estab- 
lished, I  had  no  more  battles  imposed  upon  me.3 


7  Memoirs,  p.  28.  s  Ibid,  p.  28. 


354        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

LVIL 

The  College  was  now  attracting  students  from  the  country 
and  other  provinces.  Indeed,  each  of  the  graduating  classes 
thus  far  had  members  not  natives  of  Philadelphia,  viz  :  William- 
son of  Chester  County,  Alison  of  Lancaster  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Keene,  Paca,  Goldsborough,  and  Tilghman,  of  Maryland  ; 
Ogden  of  New  Jersey ;  and  Hill  of  North  Carolina ;  to  which 
might  be  added  Latta  and  Magaw  of  Ireland.  And  concern 
filled  their  minds  as  to  the  influence  upon  their  prospects  should 
they  be  unable  to  assure  their  friends  at  a  distance  of  comfort- 
able quarters  for  their  sons.  The  subject  took  form  at  the  Trus- 
tee's meeting  of  10  March,  1761,  the  same  at  which  the  new 
Rules  and  Ordinances  were  affirmed. 

Some  of  the  Trustees  mentioned  the  Inconveniences  arising  from  the 
Scholars  being  boarded  at  such  great  Distances  and  in  such  different  parts 
of  the  City  as  well  as  the  great  Expence  that  Strangers  were  put  to  by  the 
late  high  demands  that  was  made  for  their  Board  on  account  of  the  rise  of 
Provisions,  etc.,  whereupon  it  was  considered  whether  it  might  not  be  better 
to  have  some  additional  Buildings  erected  on  the  Ground  belonging  to  the 
Academy  that  might  hold  a  number  of  the  Scholars  that  came  from  other 
Provinces  and  the  West  Indies,  and  put  them  upon  a  Collegiate  way  of 
living,  as  is  done  in  the  Jersey  and  New  York  Colleges.  But  on  inquiring 
of  the  Treasurer  what  might  be  the  state  of  the  Academy  Funds  and  rind- 
ing that  they  had  not  beforehand  above  ^3000.  a  great  part  of  which  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  several  Managers  of  the  Lotteries,  it  was  dropt  for  the 
Present  as  being  utterly  inconsistent  with  our  capital. 

At  the  meeting  of  14  April,  only  Messrs.  Inglis,  Stedman, 
and  Duche  attending  with  the  President,  the  subject  was  the 
topic  of  discussion.  Dr.  Peters  regretted  the  smallness  of 
attendance  as  it  was  desirable  to  make  publick 

the  Substance  of  what  passed  at  the  last  meeting  with  respect  to  a  Sett  of 
Buildings  for  the  Lodging  and  Dieting  a  Number  of  Students,  as  he  found 
it  was  most  heartily  desired  by  a  very  great  Number  of  respectable 
People  in  the  City,  and  as  the  Town  was  now  full  of  Officers  and  Strangers 
many  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  a  Lottery  to  raise  ^2000.  for  such  a  use- 
ful Purpose  would  soon  fill,  and  the  other  gentlemen  likewise  saying  that 
they  had  heard  the  same  observations  made  by  many  People  of  Credit  as 
well  Strangers  as  Citizens,  they  had  mentioned  it  occasionally  to  several  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        355 

the  Trustees  who  were  all  of  opinion  that  the  present  good  Disposition  that 
the  People  were  in  should  not  be  lost  and  expecting  to  have*had  a  larger 
meeting,  Mr.  Stedman  had  drawn  up  two  Schemes  which  were  read. 

The  subject  slumbered  until  the  meeting  of  10  November 
following,  when 

the  President,  Mr.  Stedman,  Mr.  Willing,  and  Mr.  Cox,  having  formerly 
had  under  consideration  a  Plan  for  additional  Buildings  were  appointed  a 
Committee  on  this  occasion;  and  they  were  desired  to  meet  upon  this  Busi- 
ness immediately,  and  as  soon  as  they  should  have  perfected  Matters  & 
were  ready  to  make  their  Report,  the  President  was  desired  to  call  a  special 
meeting, 

which  was  held  on  the  28th,  there  being  present  Messrs.  Peters, 
Cadwalader,  Stedman,  Cox,  Turner,  Allen,  Duche,  White, 
Inglis,  Willing,  Shippen,  Leech  and  Chew,  when  the  Report  of 
the  Committee  was  submitted  and  adopted.  As  it  contains  in 
Dr.  Peters'  words  a  statement  of  the  present  condition  and  the 
promising  prospects  of  the  institution,  it  merits  the  entire  inser- 
tion here.  Containing  as  it  does  the  bold  and  yet  practical  sug- 
gestion of  soliciting  funds  from  the  Mother  Country,  and  asking 
Dr.  Smith  to  be  their  mouthpiece  for  the  same,  it  in  fact  opens 
a  view  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  in  the  history  of 
the  College,  and  which  proved  to  be  one  of  those  important 
movements  in  the  life  of  the  institution  from  which  great  results 
in  financial  strength  and  in  influence  flowed.  But  for  this  inci- 
dental desire  to  put  their  pupils  from  abroad  "  upon  a  collegiate 
way  of  living,"  the  suggestion  may  not  have  arisen  for  this 
foreign  mission  which  in  the  end  redounded  so  much  to  the 
advantage  of  the  general  work  they  had  in  hand  "for  the 
Advancement  of  Learning  for  ever." 

But  the  Committee  can  speak  for  themselves  : 

Gentlemen.  Having  been  nominated  by  you  as  a  Committee  to 
consider  the  Ways  and  Means  for  improving  the  State  of  the  Academy 
and  compleating  its  Funds  so  as  to  place  it  on  a  permanent  and  respectable 
Footing  for  the  Advancement  of  Learning  for  ever.  We  have  had  several 
Meetings  with  the  Provost  and  Vice  Provost  upon  these  Topics,  and  upon 
the  whole  after  mature  Deliberation  have  agreed  to  recommend  the  follow- 
ing things,  viz: 

I.  As  it  appears  to  us  by  a  prevailing  Objection  against  this  Institution 


356        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

from  abroad,  that  our  Youth,  especially  such  of  them  as  are  grown  in 
years  are  left  to  lodge  at  large  in  the  City,  not  under  the  Controul  of  the 
Masters  or  any  Persons  having  proper  authority  over  them;  by  which  they 
are  exposed  to  many  Avocations,  and  much  unnecessary  Expence,  the 
thoughts  of  which  have  prevented  sundry  Persons  who  wish  well  to  the 
Institution  from  sending  their  Children  to  it,  some  not  knowing  where  to 
lodge  them  in  safety,  and  others  being  apprehensive  of  the  great  Expence 
attending  it :  And  as  a  Sense  of  these  Inconveniences  put  the  Trustees 
sometime  ago  upon  sollicking  a  Sum  of  Money  by  way  of  Lottery  partly  to 
erect  some  necessary  lodging  Rooms  to  accommodate  the  Elder  part  of  the 
Youth  that  come  from  abroad  and  partly  to  rebuild  the  Charity  Schools 
that  are  in  a  ruinous  condition  : 

We  are  therefore  of  Opinion  that  Workmen  should  now  be  agreed 
with  to  go  on  in  the  ensuing  Summer  with  one  half  of  the  Buildings  con- 
tained in  the  Plan  formerly  given  to  us  by  Mr  Robert  Smith,  which  will  be 
70  feet  long  by  30  wide  and  will  have  on  the  Ground  Floor  two  Charity 
Schools,  with  a  Kitchen  and  a  Dining  Room,  and  in  the  upper  Stories 
Sixteen  Lodging  Rooms,  with  cellar  beneath  the  whole,  which,  by  an 
Estimate  given  to  us  may  be  executed  for  ^1500,  and  the  Rent  of  the 
Rooms  at  a  Moderate  Charge  may  nearly  bring  the  interest  of  the  Money, 
and  the  chief  of  those  objections  will  be  taken  off  which  sundry  Persons 
have  not  failed  to  improve  to  the  Disadvantage  of  this  Institution. 

In  regard  to  the  Funds  we  apprehend  that  if  a  final  Settlement  be 
speedily  made  of  the  Lottery  accounts,  and  leave  be  got  to  sell  the  Per- 
kasie  lands  to  add  to  the  Capital  (which  there  is  no  Reason  to  doubt  of 
obtaining  on  a  respectable  Application)  we  should  then  probably  have 
near  ^8000.  in  Bank  ;  so  that  if  an  addition  of  £6  or  7000  more  could  be 
speedily  procured,  the  whole  put  together  would  furnish  an  Yearly  Income 
sufficient  with  the  Tuition  Money,  to  support  the  Institution  for  ever.  But 
if  this  matter  should  be  delayed  a  few  years  longer  our  present  Capital 
would  be  exhausted  and  the  same  addition  which  would  now  compleat  it, 
would  then  only  put  us  where  we  are  at  present,  if  it  could  be  procured. 

We  are  therefore  of  opinion  that  as  the  Method  of  Lotteries  which  is 
at  best  but  precarious  and  attended  with  much  Trouble  to  Individuals 
must  speedily  fail  us,  we  have  no  resource  but  once  for  all  to  betake  our- 
selves to  the  Generosity  of  the  Public.  And  when  we  consider  the 
Encouragement  that  has  heretofore  given  by  the  Mother  country  to  Semi- 
naries of  Learning  erected  on  this  Continent,  at  a  time  when  the  Affairs 
of  America  were  not  thought  of  half  the  Importance  which  they  are  at 
present,  and  these  seminaries  far  less  extensive  in  their  Plan  than  this 
Academy,  and  Countenanced  by  the  Governments  in  which  they  are 
erected:  We  cannot  entertain  the  least  Doubt,  but  under  our  Circum- 
stances a  Seminary  placed  in  this  large  and  trading  City  and  which  prom- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       357 

ises  to  be  of  so  much  use  for  the  Advancement  of  true  Learning  and 
Knowledge,  will  at  this  time  meet  with  great  Encouragement  in  England, 
where  there  are  Thousands  that  want  nothing  more  than  opportunities 
of  Showing  their  Beneficence  and  good  will  to  anything  calculated  for  the 
Benefit  of  these  Colonies,  and  we  have  the  greatest  hopes  in  this  affair 
from  the  assurance  given  us  by  Dr.  Smith  of  the  Disposition  which  he 
found  in  sundry  Persons  of  Distinction  when  he  was  lately  in  England,  to 
befriend  this  Seminary  on  a  due  Application  to  them  and  which  some  of 
them  have  been  pledged  to  respect  in  their  private  Letters  to  him . 

We  therefore  most  heartily  recommended  to  the  Trustees  to  take  this 
Matter  into  their  immediate  and  most  serious  Consideration  and  to  engage 
some  proper  person  to  go  over  to  England  with  all  convenient  Expedition 
and  furnish  him  with  proper  Recommendations  and  Credentials  in  order  to 
sollicit  the  Benevolence  of  the  Good  People  of  Great  Britain  for  such 
further  Support  of  the  Institution  so  that  it  may  be  put  upon  a  footing  suf- 
ficient to  maintain  for  ever  an  expedient  Number  of  Professors,  Masters, 
and  Tutors  as  well  as  to  enable  the  Trustees  to  make  such  additional  Build- 
ings as  will  obviate  the  objections  made  to  the  Institution  in  its  present 
form  for  want  of  Lodging  and  Superintending  the  Morals  of  the  Students. 

It  is  recorded  that  a 

great  majority  voted  to  carry  on  the  whole  Buildings,  as  recommended  in 
the  Report  which  was  accordingly  agreed  to  provided  the  Expence  did  not 
exceed  the  sum  raised  by  the  last  Lottery,  [and]  the  Trustees  unanimously 
agreed  that  there  was  a  Necessity  of  nominating  some  proper  person  to 
sollicit  the  Benefactions  of  their  Mother  country  for  the  further  support  of 
this  Institution,  and  it  was  agreed  that  Dr  Smith  was  the  properest  Person 
to  undertake  the  Service. 

And  the  Committee  having  intimated 

that  in  some  previous  Conversation  with  him  they  had  reason  to  believe  he 
would  be  very  willing  to  serve  the  Institution  in  this  way  if  it  should  be 
approved  by  the  Trustees.  They  therefore  desired  he  might  be  sent  for, 
and  the  President  acquainted  him  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  that  it  was 
their  unanimous  Desire  that  he  would  with  all  convenient  Speed  undertake 
a  Voyage  to  England  for  the  Purposes  above  mentioned,  and  that  they 
would  endeavor  to  supply  his  place  with  some  proper  Person  who  should  in 
his  Absence  carry  on  his  part  of  the  Lectures  in  the  Philosophy  School. 
Dr  Smith  answered  that  it  might  be  a  little  inconvenient  to  him  to  under- 
take a  Voyage  at  this  Season  of  the  Year,  yet  he  was  willing  to  serve  the 
Institution  in  this  or  any  other  Method  in  his  Power  ;  and  further  that  he 
would  make  all  the  Dispatch  he  could  in  preparing  himself  for  the  Voyage  ; 
and  had  good  Hopes  from  what  had  passed  between  him  and  some  Persons 
of  Distinction  in  England,  of  answering  their  Expectations  in  this  Matter. 


358        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

These  Buildings  were  to  be  erected  partly  on  the  original 
Academy  lot  and  partly  on  the  lot  purchased  from  Mr.  Hazard 
in  1750,  facing  upon  the  Eastern  campus,  with  Mr.  Dove's  two 
Fourth  Street  Dwellings  to  the  Northward  in  the  rear. 

The  Provost  lost  no  time  in  preparing  for  this  absence 
which  might  be  of  uncertain  length,  and  welcoming  any  duty 
which  would  redound  to  the  service  of  the  College,  he  looked 
to  a  parting  from  his  wife  and  their  two  young  sons,  William 
Moore  and  Thomas  Duncan,  with  equanimity  and  patience.  The 
Trustees  at  the  meeting  of  15  December,  adopted  Letters  and 
Instructions  for  his  introduction  and  guidance  abroad  ;  on  10 
January,  1762,  he  preached  in  Christ  Church  the  Sermon  T  at 
the  funeral  of  Dr.  Jenney,  its  venerable  Rector;  "God  Knows 
but  this  may  be  my  last  opportunity  of  ever  speaking  to  you 
from  this  place  :  my  heart  is  full  on  the  occasion,"  he  says  in 
conclusion  ;  on  25  January  he  sets  out  for  New  York  where  he 
remained  over  a  fortnight,  sailing  thence  on  1 3  February  to  Eng- 
land and  arriving  early  in  March.  There  we  leave  him,  until 
we  can  carry  on  the  story  of  the  College  up  to  the  time  of  his 
return  in  June,  1764,  freighted  with  those  substantial  bounties 
which  so  materially  added  to  the  resources  of  the  College. 

The  proposed  Buildings,  which  proved  the  occasion  of  this 
foreign  mission  of  the  untiring  Provost,  were  at  this  meeting  of 
28  November,  1761,  committed  to  Messrs.  Peters,  Cox,  Sted- 
man,  Willing,  Chew,  and  E.  Shippen  "to  agree  with  proper 
Workmen  for  carrying  them  on  the  ensuing  spring."  The  loca- 
tion of  these  was  at  the  meeting  of  12  April,  1762,  decided  upon: 
the  members  resumed  the  consideration  whether  it  would  be  better  to  build 
on  the  North  or  South  Side  of  the  Academy,  and  as  well  on  Account  of  the 
South  Exposure  as  Keeping  clear  the  South  Door  which  is  the  common 
Entry  into  their  schools  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  be  placed  at  the 
North  End  of  the  Square. 

On  i  November,  Franklin  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  his 
return  home  after  a  five  years'  absence  in  England  on  behalf  of 
his  country,  bringing  with  him  his  Oxford  Doctorate  of  22  Feb- 
ruary, 1762,  and  bearing  from  Dr.  Smith  to  William  Coleman 


1  Entitled  the  Gospel  Summons,  and  is  No.  VIII.  in  the  Discourses  of  1762. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.         359 

the  Treasurer,  the  cash  account  of  the  fund  he  then  had  in  hand,2 
and  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  the  pth,  when  the 
first  letters  from  Dr.  Smith  were  read  descriptive  of  the  lengthy 
and  formal  beginnings  of  his  collections.  At  the  next  meeting 
Dr.  Franklin  attended,  8  February,  1763,  and  a  minute  records: 

The  Charity  Schools  being  now  removed  into  the  new  Buildings  it 
was  represented  that  some  little  Conveniences  would  be  wanted,  as  Shelves 
and  Cupboards,  and  the  Carpenter  was  accordingly  ordered  to  make  them, 

and  on  28  May  Dr.  Peters  writes  to  Dr.  Smith  :  3 

the  new  Buildings  are  finished,  and  I  think  it  will  be  an  easy  matter  to 
find  some  reputable  person  who  will  take  upon  them  at  a  yearly  rent  to 
provide  all  necessaries  and  to  be  subject  to  such  Rules  of  Oeconomy  and 
Discipline  as  will  keep  those  in  perfect  good  Order  who  shall  be  allowed 
to  live  in  them.  I  do  not  encourage  any  Schemes  (and  I  believe  others 
think  as  I  do),  till  we  shall  be  favored  with  your  Judgment  and  assistance. 

These  the  Trustees  had  on  Dr.  Smith's  return,  and  later 
on  we  shall  find  a  picture  of  the  home-life  in  the  College  Build- 
ings. 


J  Minutes  of  Trustees,  9  November,  1762. 
3  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  x.  352. 


360        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LVIIL 

But  we  must  return  to  the  year  1762  :T  The  Commence- 
ment of  that  year  was  held  on  17  May  "in  the  presence  of  a 
learned,  polite  and  very  brilliant  Assembly.  Every  part  of  the 
public  Hall  was  crowded  with  Spectators."  And  what  added  to 
the  pleasure  of  the  loyal  mind  was, 

his  Honour  the  Governor,  who  is  one  of  the  Trustees  of  this  Institution,  was 
pleased  to  attend  the  whole  day.  A  great  number  of  the  Clergy  of  differ- 
ent denominations,  together  with  many  other  Gentlemen  of  Learning  and 
the  first  Distinction,  from  the  neighboring  Parts  were  likewise  present.2 

The  morning  exercises  were  opened  with  a  Salutatory  Ora- 
tion in  Latin  by  one  of  the  Candidates.  This  was  followed  by 
a  forensic  Disputation,  in  which  the 

Disputants  discovered  a  great  deal  of  Sprightliness,  Wit  and  good  Sense  ; 
and  closed  with  a  Latin  Syllogistic  Disputation.  In  the  afternoon  two 
English  Orations  were  pronounced,  followed  by  another  Syllogistic  Dispu- 
tation in  Latin.  The  Vice  Provost  then  conferred  the  Degrees,  and  he 
delivered  from  the  Pulpit  a  solemn  charge  to  the  Candidates.  The  young 
Orator  who  spoke  the  Valedictory  with  much  elegance  and  Tenderness  met 
with  deserved  applause.  Then  came  the  Loyal  Dialogue  and  Ode  on  the 
accession  and  Nuptials  of  his  Majesty  which  closed  the  whole  Performance. 

This  latter  had.  been  arranged  by  the  Provost  before  his 
departure  for  England  four  months  before,  he  writing  the  Dia- 
logue, and  "one  of  the  Sons  of  this  Institution"  writing  and 

o  ° 

setting  to  Music  the  Ode — no  less  a  one  than  Francis  Hopkin- 
son.  The  graduates  of  the  occasion  were  Samuel  Campbell, 
who  became  a  Tutor  in  August,  1759,  and  clerk  to  the  Trustees 
in  1760,  John  Cooke,  William  Hamilton,  the  "Master  Billy 
Hamilton  "  referred  to  on  former  pages,  Samuel  Jones,  a  native 
of  Wales,  John  Porter,  a  Tutor  from  October,  1761,  and 


1  The  Pennsylvania   Gazette  of  7  January,     1762,  announces    This  Day  is 
published  and  to  be  sold  by  A.  Stewart,  price  4p  or  3;  per  Doz.  A  Letter  from  a  Gen- 
tleman in  England  to  his  Friend  in  Philadelphia  ;  giving  him  his  opinion  of  the 
College  of  that    City.     No  copy  of  this  is  known  to  any  one  of  this  day ;  and  the 
only  knowledge  of  the  publication  is  this  advertisement.     It  forms  title  1824  in  Mr. 
Hildeburn's  Issues  of  the  Press  in  Pennsylvania  ;  i.  373. 

2  Minutes,  p.  169,  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  27  May,  1762. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ILNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANMA.        361 

Stephen  Watts,  who  became  Tutor  in  the  College  in  the  follow- 
ing August.  John  Beard,  Nathaniel  Chapman,  William  Edmis- 
ton,  and  William  Paca,  were  the  only  members  of  the  class  of 
1759  who  proceeded  to  their  degree  of  M.  A. 

Henry  Marchant,  formerly  a  Student  of  this  Institution  having  pro- 
nounced an  elegant  spirited  Oration  upon  the  Study  of  the  Law,  was 
admitted  to  a  Master's  Degree  ;  also  the  Rev'd  Mr  Morgan  Edwards,  the 
Rev'd  Mr  Joseph  Mather,  the  Rev'd  Mr  John  Simonton,  and  Mr  Isaac 
Smith  of  Nassau  College,  now  Student  of  Physic,  to  the  honorary  Degree 
of  Master  of  Arts.  And  Mr  Thomas  Pollock  [who  had  become  a  Tutor  in 
November,  1761]  to  the  Honorary  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts. 

It  was  a  satisfactory  minute  that  recorded  : 

Everything  was  conducted  with  the  utmost  Decency  and  Order.  The 
Candidates  acquitted  themselves  in  every  part  of  their  Exercises  to  the 
Satisfaction  of  all  present,  and  have  derived  considerable  Honor  to  them- 
selves and  to  the  Institution. 

A  broadside  programme  of  these  interesting  exercises  in 
Latin  is  preserved  among  the  Penn  Papers  in  the  archives  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  thanks  to  the  cotemporary 
care  of  the  Penn's  Secretary  and  the  Trustees'  President,  the 
ever  watchful  and  considerate  Dr.  Peters. 


362        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LIX. 

The  Commencement  of  1763  held  on  17  May,  had  the 
attendance  of  Dr.  Franklin — the  only  one  of  his  College  and 
Academy  which  won  his  presence,  for  he  had  sailed  on  his  first 
Mission  a  month  before  the  first  Commencement,  and  before 
another  he  had  sailed  on  his  second  mission.  The  Minutes  of 
this  meeting  are  comparatively  meagre,  but  the  faithful  chroni- 
cler of  all  College  events,  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  26  May 
tells  us  ho\v  the  Public  Commencement  was  held  at  the  College 
"  in  the  Presence  of  a  learned,  polite  and  very  brilliant  Assembly, 
Every  part  of  the  public  Hall  was  crowded  with  Spectators." 
But  a  more  graphic  account,  and  one  worth  transcribing  here,  is 
that  of  Dr.  Peters  to  Dr.  Smith  in  his  letter  of  28  May:1 

*  *  *  I  was  forced  to  stay  with  the  greatest  reluctance  till  the 
very  day  before  the  Commencement  which  was  held  on  the  iyth  instant 
before  a  very  crowded  audience.  As  it  was  Synod  time,  whilst  only  two  of 
our  own  Clergy,  Mr.  Barton  and  Mr.  Inglis  could  be  spared  from  their 
Churches,  being  oblig'd  to  prepare  their  congregations  for  Whit  Sunday 
which  you  know  is  a  large  Communion  Day.  Two  of  the  graduates  were 
preferred  to  vacant  Tutorships,  Davis2  in  the  English  School  and  Lang  in 
the  Latin  School,  and  Mr.  Hunt,  of  whom  I  have  taken  care  for  your  sake, 
will  have  a  tutorship  likewise  in  the  English  School  which  is  full,  in  order 
to  give  Mr.  Kinnersley  leisure  to  teach  all  the  boys  of  other  schools  that 
are  wishing  to  learn  how  to  read  and  speak  properly  in  public.  This  you 
know  has  been  disused  and  we  have  suffered  much  for  want  of  it.3  *  *  * 


1  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  x.  350. 

2  John  Davis'  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Treasurer's  accounts. 

3  This  matter  was  the  subject  of  a  minute  at  the  Trustees  meeting  of  13  June 
following  Dr.  Peters  being  present,  as  "  some  of  the  parents  of  the  children  had  com- 
plained  that  their  children  were  not  taught  to  speak  and  read  in  publick."      Mr. 
Kinnersley  was  called  in  who  "declared  this  was  well  taught  not  only  in  the  Eng- 
lish School  which  was  more  immediately  under  his  care,  but  in  the  Philosophy  Classes 
every  Monday  afternoon  and  as  often  at  other  times  as  his  other  Business  would  per- 
mit."    But  it  appeared  to  the  Trustees  that "  no  more  could  be  done  at  present  with- 
out partiality  and  great  inconvenience     '       *     *     and  they  did  not  incline  to  make 
any  alteration  or  to  lay  any  Burthen  upon  Mr.  Kinnersly."     A  partial  explanation  of 
this  may  be  in  some  of  the  parents  resting  under  the  belief  that  their  children  were  not 
so  favored  as  others  in  public  speaking;  but  with  Dr.  Peters  admission  to  Dr.  Smith, 
the  Trustees  formal  action  must  have  been  taken  to  shield  Mr.  Kinnersley.     This 
action  is    so  indefinite,  and  so  contrary  to  that  taken  at  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on 
8  February,    1763,  on  the  motion  of  Dr.  Franklin,  that  it  can  only  leave  an  impress 
that  some  design  existed  to  nurture  rather  the  Classical  and  Mathematical  branches  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       363 

The  printed  Theses  will  shew  you  who  took  their  Degrees  of  right  In  my 
absence  the  Faculty  recommended  for  honorary  Degrees  the  Rev'  d  Jo. 
Rogers  and  the  Rev'd  W.  Miller  and  Mr.  M'Kean  the  Lawyer  at  New 
Castle. 

From  this  last  reference  we  are  not  far  out  of  the  way  in 
claiming  for  Dr.  Peters  the  authorship  of  the  warning  note 
uttered  by  the  Trustees  in  the  previous  year  against  "conferring 
too  many  Honorary  Degrees." 

But  this  Commencement  was  without  Hopkinson' s  rhythm 
and  sweet  notes.  Dr.  Peters  writes  the  story  to  Dr.  Smith  : 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  a  foolish  but  tart  difference  has  arisen 
between  the  Faculty  and  our  good  Friend  Francis  Hopkinson  on  account 
of  a  grammatical  squabble,  wherein  Mr.  Hopkinson  was  the  Aggressor, 
but  he  did  not  mean  to  offend  any  of  the  Faculty,  only  to  expose  Stuart 
the  Printer;  I  should  not  mention  this,  but  only  to  inform  you  that  the 
Faculty  applied  to  Sam.  Evans  to  write  the  Dialogue  and  to  Mr.  Jackson 
to  write  the  Ode  for  them,4  Mr.  Duche  and  Mr.  Hopkinson  declining  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  it  by  means  of  this  Squabble  about  the  Grammar.  My 
endeavours  to  reconcile  prov'd  unsuccessful.5  It  is  unfortunate  that  we 
have  not  at  this  time  any  publick  performance  more  worthy  of  being  laid 
before  the  publick.  You  must  make  the  best  Apology  you  can. 


the  college  at  the  expense  of  the  English,  a  design  rather  the  result  of  indifference 
than  of  intent  and  perhaps  of  a  want  of  appreciation  of  its  importance,  although  Mr. 
Kinnersley  would  naturally  foster  it  would  be  thought  a  branch  in  all  its  details  over 
which  he  was  supreme.  That  the  matter  was  a  grave  issue  can  be  seen  in  the  force 
of  the  Minute  of  8  February,  where  it  is  stated  that  "  Mr.  Kinnersley's  time  was 
entirely  taken  up  in  teaching  little  Boys  the  Elements  of  the  English  language, 
and  that  speaking  and  rehearsing  in  Publick  were  totally  disused  to  the  great  prejudice 
of  the  other  Scholars  and  Students  and  contrary  to  the  original  Design  of  the  Trustees" 
and  "  it  was  particularly  recommended  to  be  fully  considered  by  the  Trustees  at  their 
next  Meeting.."  This,  though,  was  not  done  until  the  meeting  of  12  April,  at  which 
however  Dr  Franklin  did  not  attend,  when  he,  Mr.  Coleman,  Mr.  Coxe  and  Mr. 
Duche  were  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  Mr.  Kinnersley  how  this  might  be 
done  as  well  as  what  assistance  would  be  necessary  to  give  Mr.  Kinnersley  to  enable 
him  to  attend  this  necessary  service,  which  was  indeed  the  proper  business  of  his 
Professorship."  But  no  report  was  made,  and  the  next  reference  to  the  matter  is  at 
the  meeting  of  13  June,  just  referred  to,  by  which  it  would  seem  it  was  more  conven- 
ient to  accept  Mr.  Kinnersley's  denials  than  to  pursue  the  matter  further. 

4  These  were  sent  to  Dr.  Smith  who  had  them  printed  in  the  Liverpool  Ad- 
vertiser of  21  July,  copies  of  which  he  distributed  with  advantage  to  his  Mission. 
When  he  received  his  Dublin  degree  he  sent  Dr.  Martin  "a  letter  of  thanks    *    *    * 
also  one  of  the  Liverpool  papers  containing  the  Dialogue  and  Ode  which  made  part 
of  the  Exercises  at  the  College,"  Life  and  Corresf>.  i.  326,  331. 

5  This  foolish  but  tart  difference  arose  out  of  the  publication  by  "Andrew 
Steuart  for  the  College  and  Academy   of  Philadelphia,  MDCCLXII"  of    a  Short 
Introduction  to  Grammar  for  the  Use  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  Philadelphia, 
being  a  AVw  Edition  of  IVhittenhalt  S  Latin   Grammar  wi.'k    many  Alterations, 


364        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  graduates  at  the  Commencement  of  1763  were, 
James  Anderson,  John  Davis,  Isaac  Hunt  who  became  the 
father  of  Leigh  Hunt,  and  who  failed  in  attaining  his  Master's 
Degree  in  1766  on  account  of  his  share  in  some  of  the  news- 
paper political  controversies  of  that  day,  as  elsewhere  stated ; 
Robert  Johnston,  appointed  Tutor  in  September,  1763  ;  James 
Lang,  William  Paxton,  Stephen  Porter,  Jonathan  Dickinson 
Sergeant,  an  alumnus  of  .Princeton  of  1762,  and  John  Stuart. 
We  now  have  to  wait  until  1765  for  the  next  Commencement. 
Of  the  three  who  shortly  received  Tutorships,  Hunt  served 
but  three  months,  Johnston  to  May,  1764,  and  Lang  to  Janu- 
ary, 1764. 


Additions  and  Amendments  from  ancient  and  late  Grammarians.  Hopkinson's 
humor  was  too  lively  for  him  to  let  pass  the  opportunity  of  making  some  jest  of  this 
ambitious  little  book.  And  next  year  there  appeared  Errata  or  the  Art  of  Printing 
incorrectly;  Plainly  set  Forth  by  a  Variety  of  Examples  Taken  from  a  Latin 
Grammar  lately  printed  by  Andrew  Steuart  for  the  Use  of  the  College  and  Academy 
•of  this  City. 

Still  her  old  Empire  to  restore  she  tries 

for,  born  a  Goddess,  DULNESS  never  Dies. — Pope. 

Philadelphia,  MDCCLXIII. 

As  the  writer  finds  "151  Capital  Blunders  in  137  Pages,"  he  says  "Our  worthy 
Printer,  A.  Steuart,  fired  with  a  laudable  Zeal  for  the  Honour  of  America,  and 
learning  to  tread  the  servile  Paths  of  Imitation,  has  ventured  to  strike  out  a  Method 
of  Printing  entirely  new;  the  many  Advantages  of  which  it  is  our  present  Purpose  to 
set  forth  in  the  best  Manner  we  are  able.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Mr.  Steuart  has 
been  employed  to  print  a  Grammar  for  the  use  of  our  Academy  ;  which  after  a  long 
space  of  Time,  he  has  done  in  so  Artful  a  Manner,  that,  without  the  Help  of  this  our 
Errata,  or  List  of  Mistakes,  or  some  other  like  it,  it  is  indeed  no  Grammar  at  all. 
For  as  Grammar  is  justly  defined,  That  Art  which  teacheth  to  write  and  speak 
correctly,  that  Book  which  of  itself  teacheth  no  such  Things  cannot  properly  be  said 
to  be  a  Grammar.  So  that  this  our  Work  may  well  be  called  a  Key  to  the  said 
Book;  without  which  it  must  remain  unintelligible  *  *  *  This  Grammar  is 
not  the  first,  and  very  probably  will  not  be  the  last  Effort  of  his  Genius ;  but  we 
think  ourselves  happy  in  being  the  first  to  notice  it  to  the  Public,  and  in  preventing 
others  from  mentioning  this  Performance  of  his  to  his  Dishonour  by  giving  it  the 
laudable  Term  we  have  done  in  our  Preface."  Hopkinson's  humor  was  taken 
seriously,  for  it  assured  the  death  of  Steuart' s  print  of  the  work  of  the  Faculty,  who 
doubtless  relied  upon  him  for  correct  proofreading. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        365 


LX. 

The  year  1763  is  noted  for  the  offer  of  the  Sargent  prizes. 
At  the  meeting  of  8  February,  Franklin  referred  to  the  Trustees 
a  letter  he  had  received  from  Mr.  John  Sargent,  a  Merchant  of 
London  on  the  subject,  about  which  there  had  been  some  con- 
ference when  Franklin  was  in  London,  and  shortly  after  he  left 
there,  Mr.  Sargent  wrote  him  on  12  August,  1762,  as  follows  :l 

Dr.  Sir.  By  our  Friends  here  I  am  enabled  to  convey  the  enclosed 
Trifles  to  you,  which  are  the  best  I  could  meet  with  at  present  and  cost 
five  guineas  each. 

You  remember  the  Intention,  viz  :  for  the  two  best  Performances  at 
the  general  Meeting  or  Publick  Act  of  your  College  or  Seminary. 

The  subject  of  one  to  be,  in  a  short  English  Discourse,  or  Essay, 
' '  on  the  reciprocal  advantages  arising  from  a  perpetual  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  American  colonies." 

The  other  prize,  for  some  Classical  Exercise,  that  you  shall  think 
best  suited  to  your  Plan  of  Education  and  the  ability  of  your  young  people. 

I  submit  to  your  Judgment  whether  the  former  shall  be  confined  to 
your  Students  or  left  open  to  every  one,  whether  of  the  Seminary  or  not. 
Yourself  and  Mr  Norris  your  Speaker  and  any  third  [here  the  copy  ends]. 

As  Franklin  felt  unauthorized  to  accept  Mr.  Sargent's 
nomination  of  the  subjects,  he 

informed  the  Trustees  that  neither  he  nor  Mr  Norris  inclined  to  do  any- 
thing in  the  Matter,  being  clear  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Sargent  would  not 
have  mentioned  them  on  this  Occasion  if  he  had  been  acquainted  with  the 
Trustees  or  the  Constitution  of  the  Academy.  And  therefore  he  desired 
the  Trustees  would  take  the  whole  under  their  care. 


1  A  letter  of  same  date  from  Mr.  Sargent's  firm,  Sargent,  Aufrere  &  Co.,  to 
"  Dr.  Franklin  at  Portsmouth  to  be  left  at  the  Post  House  till  called  for"  is  with 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,  reading:  "  We  have  just  sent  you  by  the  chan- 
nel of  the  Post  Office  the  two  Gold  medals  which  you  will  apply  as  a  mark  of  our 
good  Wishes  for  your  College,  &  now  enclose  a  Letter  of  Credit  which  we  hope 
you  will  never  have  occasion  for,  but  if  you  should,  we  are  perswaded  the  Name  of 
B.  M.  da  Costa  whatever  Port  you  are  carried  in'o  will  be  respected  and  procure 
you  all  you  wish,  etc."  William  Temple  Franklin  in  his  Life  and  Works,  1818, 
oct.,  i;  p.  180,  says  his  Grandfather  "on  his  return  to  Philadelphia  from  England  in 
1775  carried  thence  two  large  gold  medals  given  by  Mr.  Sargent,  one  of  his  friends, 
to  be  bestowed  as  prizes,  &c.,  &c.  ;"  but  the  author  confounded  this  with  the  for 
mer  voyage  home.  Dr.  Franklin  sailed  from  Portsmouth  in  the  latter  part  of  Au- 
gust, 1762,  and  brought  then  with  him  these  medals.  He  did  not  reach  Philadel- 
phia, however,  until  1st  November  following. 


366       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

After  considering  the  Letter  which  Mr.  Peters  and  Mr.  Franklin 
were  desired  to  think  of  a  proper  Classical  Subject  and  to  inquire  of  Dr. 
Alison  and  Mr.  Ewing  if  both  or  either  of  these  subjects  might  be  pro- 
posed to  the  present  Candidates  for  Degrees,  and  if  proper  Orations  could 
be  prepared  by  them  against  the  next  Commencement.  The  Medals 
were  very  kindly  accepted  and  the  same  gentlemen  were  desired  to  return 
the  Thanks  of  the  Trustees  to  Mr  Sargent  for  his  Gift. 

At  the  meeting  of  8  March  they 

acquainted  the  Trustees  that  they  had  conferred  with  Dr  Alison  and  Mr 
Ewing  and  finding  it  to  be  their  Opinion  that  the  Subject  proposed  by  Mr 
Sargent  was  too  high  for  the  Present  Candidates  for  Degrees,  but  that  they 
might  perhaps  find  time  to  undertake  the  classical  Subject;  they  had  there- 
fore proposed  to  them,  if  the  Trustees  approved  of  it,  to  prepare  Orations 
on  the  Subject  of  a  Roman  Education,  for  as  in  this  the  Foundation  was 
laid  of  all  those  great  characters  which  were  so  much  admired  in  the 
Roman  History,  the  Students  would  have  an  ample  opportunity  in  this 
subject  to  show  their  Abilities  and  Improvements  in  Literature. 

But  as  to  the  other  Medal,  it  was  said  with  perhaps  some 
significance,  "  As  to  the  other  Subject  they  would  recommend 
it  to  the  Trustees  to  let  it  lye  a  little  longer  for  consideration." 
Dr.  Peters  wrote  an  acknowledgment  of  thanks  on  6  April,  and 
his  letter  is  entered  on  the  minutes,  giving  Mr.  Sargent 

their  hearty  Thanks  for  the  Regard  you  have  been  pleased  to  shew  to  the 
Institution  in  the  Disposal  of  the  two  gold  Medals  committed  to  the  care  of 
our  worthy  Member  Dr  Franklin,  He  has  been  so  kind  as  to  present  these 
two  curious  Medals  to  the  Trustees  as  your  Gift,  and  to  communicate  to  them 
your  Letter,  whereby  we  observe  you  have  yourself  made  Choice  of  one  of  the 
Subjects  for  the  Students  to  try  their  Abilities  upon,  and  we  are  obliged  to 
you  for  your  Attention  to  the  Welfare  of  these  Colonies  in  desiring  that  it 
may  be  on  the  reciprocal  Advantages  arising  from  a  perpetual  Union 
between  Great  Britain  and  them ;  *  *  *  indeed  this  came  too  late  to 
be  proposed  to  our  Students  as  they  had  all  the  Subjects  of  their  Exercises 
given  them  against  the  approaching  Commencement,  and  were  ingenuous 
enough  to  acknowledge  they  did  not  think  themselves  furnished  with  a 
competent  Stock  of  that  sort  of  Knowledge  and  Reading  which  is  required 
to  write  well  on  that  Subject; 

and  then  he  acquainted  him  with  the  present  decision  of  the 
Trustees. 

But  the  medals  were  not  brought  into  service  for  the  space 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       367 

of  three  years.  On  18  February,  1766,  it  was  proposed  by  the 
Trustees 

to  bestow  Mr  Sargent's  Prize-Medals  at  the  next  Commencement,  for  the 
two  best  Performances  on  the  Subjects  proposed  by  him,  [and  it  was]  agreed 
that  the  Medal  for  the  best  classical  Performance  be  confined  to  the  present 
Set  of  Candidates  for  Bachelor's  Degrees  at  the  ensuing  Commencement, 
and  that  the  Subject  proposed  for  the  other  Medal,  being  of  a  higher 
Nature,  be  left  open  to  all  those  who  have  received  any  Degree  or  Part  of 
their  Education  in  this  Seminary  and  the  Provost  was  desired  to  draw  up  a 
proper  advertisement  for  this  Purpose,  and  to  publish  the  same,  after  com- 
municating it  to  the  Governor,  Mr  Allen,  Mr  Shippen  and  Mr  Duche  for 
their  Opinion  and  Approbation. 

In  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  6  March,  this  public  announce- 
ment appeared,  and  in  the  reference  to  the  Medal  to  be  awarded 
the  political  Essay,  Dr.  Smith  wrote : 

As  the  subject  proposed  for  this  Medal,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
which  can  at  this  Time  employ  the  Pen  of  the  Patriot  or  Scholar  ;  and  as 
it  is  thus  left  open  for  all  those  who  have  had  any  Connection  with  this 
College,  either  as  Students  or  Graduates,  it  is  hoped  for  the  Honour  of  the 
Seminary,  as  well  as  for  their  own,  they  will  nobly  exert  themselves  on  a 
Subject  so  truly  animating,  which  may  be  treated  in  a  Manner  able  inter- 
esting and  pleasing  to  good  Men  both  here  and  in  the  Mother  country. 

The  public  tension  in  the  Spring  of  this  year  was  great  on  the 
subject  of  the  Stamp  Act,  for  a  crisis  was  approaching  in  colo- 
nial attachments  to  the  Mother  Country,  and  it  was  understood 
that  the  British  government  was  about  considering  whether  it 
would  maintain  or  abandon  its  position  on  this  parliamentary 
import. 

On  8  May  the  Trustees,  Messrs.  Penn,  Chew,  Allen,  Cad- 
walader,  Coxe,  Willing,  Strettell,  and  Duche  with  Dr.  Smith, 
Dr.  Alison,  and  Dr.  Shippen,  junior,  Professor  of  anatomy,  in 
attendance,  gave  the  Forenoon  to  receiving  and  examining  the 
Pieces  that  might  be  produced  for  Mr.  Sargent's  Medals.  Dr. 
Smith  laid  before  them 

nine  Performances,  sealed  up  under  Covers  as  directed,  and  marked  to  be 
written  for  the  Medal  proposed  for  the  best  English  Essay  on  the  Recipro- 
cal Advantages  of  a  perpetual  L/nion  between  Great  Britain  and  her  Ameri- 


368       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

can  Colonies  ;  also  nine  sealed  Performances  for  the  Medal  proposed  for 
the  best  Classical  Performance. 

After  reading  three  of  the  English  performances  adjourn- 
ment was  had  until  the  Afternoon,  when  Messrs.  Redman, 
Lawrence  and  Inglis  and  Dr.  Morgan  gave  their  attendance, 
and  the  other  six  pieces  were  read.  The  Trustees  little  thought 
that  the  Author  of  the  Prize  Essay  was  one  of  their  afternoon's 
company.  Rereading  three  of  the  pieces, 

the  Medal  was  unanimously  decreed  to  the  Piece  having  the  Motto  "Force 
may  subdue,  but  Commerce  &c, "  which  on  opening  the  cover  answering  to 
the  Motto  was  found  to  belong  to  John  Morgan,  M.  D.  F.  R.  S.  and  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic  in  this  College.  The  second 
also  was  judged  a  Masterly,  judicious  and  Sensible  Performance,  well 
worthy  of  a  Medal  also,  if  there  had  been  another  for  the  same  subject  ; 
and  the  third  was  likewise  greatly  approved  of  as  a  spirited  Performance, 
so  far  as  it  went  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  Publication  of  both,  together 
with  the  Prize  Piece,  would  be  of  service  at  this  Crisis  ;  which  Determina- 
tion was  accordingly  inserted  in  the  public  Papers ;  in  Pursuance  of  which, 
Stephen  Watts,  M.  A.,  the  modest  and  candid  author  of  the  second  Piece, 
directly  disclosed  his  Name  with  his  Consent  to  publish  it  with  the  Piece. 
The  author  of  the  third  Piece  gave  the  same  Leave,  but  for  particular  con- 
siderations desired  his  Name  not  to  be  affixed. 

This  was  Joseph  Reed,  an  early  student  of  the  College,2 
the  young  lawyer  of  Trenton,  a  graduate  in  1757  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey,  who  was  now  to  receive  the  honorary 
Master's  Degree  from  the  Philadelphia  College,  and  thus  be 
brought  within  reach  of  the  Sargent  Medal ;  and  whose  political 
prominence  in  the  future  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  was 
to  connect  his  name  closely  with  the  ill  fortunes  of  the  College 
in  1779.  Dr.  Smith  says  of  this,  in  his  Preface  to  the  Disserta- 
tions, 

the  author  of  the  third  Dissertation,  wrote  concerning  his  piece,  that 
he  had  but  two  days  to  spare,  from  a  particular  hurry  of  business  in  his 
possession,  to  prepare  it  in;  and  that  so  far  from  thinking  it  disgraced  by 
being  the  third  best,  he  would  have  rejoiced,  for  the  honor  of  the  Semi- 
nary in  which  he  received  his  first  education,  if  all  the  others  had  been 
superior  also;  and  that  if  there  were  any  observations  in  it  which  had  not 


2  He  was  entered  by  his  father  Andrew  Reed  in  1751  and  appears  in  the  list 
of  students  the  two  years  succeeding. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        369 

occurred  to  the  other  gentlemen,  or  were  likely  to  serve  as  hints  for  able 
pens  to  set  so  important  a  subject  in  a  proper  light,  he  readily  consented  to 
its  publication;  but  requested,  for  particular  reasons  that  his  name  might 
not  be  annexed  to  it 

A  fourth  Dissertation  was  also  published,  written  by  the 
favorite  son  of  the  College,  Francis  Hopkinson  ;3  or  to  employ 
the  too  partial  words  of  his  Provost : 

The  fourth  little  piece  is  the  production  of  an  ingenious  son  of  the 
College  in  his  own  unpremeditated  way.  He  has  by  many  compositions 
done  honor  to  the  place  of  his  education;  and  by  this,  which  was  only  the 
sudden  work  of  a  few  hours  of  that  day,  in  which  the  other  pieces  were 
under  examination,  he  meant  not  to  come  in  competition  for  the  prize,  but 
only  to  throw  his  mite  into  the  general  stock. 

An  evening  session  afforded  the  Trustees  an  opportunity 
"to  proceed  to  the  examination  of  the  Latin  Pieces,  but  were 
obliged  to  adjourn  them  till  next  Day."  An  all  day  session  of 
these  worthy  men,  earnest  in  interest  for  their  College  and  dili- 
gent in  attendance  on  their  duties,  testifies  to  the  spirit  of  its 
management  at  this  time.  At  the  next  day's  session  Dr.  Peters 
attended ;  was  his  absence  on  the  first  day  due  to  a  desire 
to  avoid  decision  on  a  composition  in  which  a  consideration  of 
the  Propietaries'  interests  might  be  discussed  ? 

This  last  day's  session  was  fruitless  as  it  was  found 

that  the  candidates  for  the  other  Medal  had  imprudently  and  for  want  of 
experience,  discovered  their  Mottoes  and  consequently  their  Names  to  each 
other,  so  that  the  Authors  of  the  several  Pieces  were  generally  known  both 
within  and  without  Doors  *  *  *  it  was  determined  that  the  Medal 
could  not  consistent  with  Mr.  Sargent' s  Trust  be  disposed  to  any  of  them 
*  *  *  it  was  therefore  proposed  to  give  them  a  new  subject  *  *  * 
but  there  was  not  time  to  write  anew  *  *  *  and  the  Candidates 
requested  that  it  might  be  left  for  another  year,  and  then  be  open  for  all 
Bachelors  of  Art,  and  this  was  acquiesced  in. 


8  Four  Dissertations  on  the  Reciprocal  Advantages  of  a  Perpetual  Union 
Between  Great  Britain  and  her  American  Colonies  written  for  Mr.  Sargent1  s  Prize 
Medal.  To  which  (by  Desire)  is  prefixed  An  Eulogium  Spoken  on  the  Delivery  of 
the  Medal  at  the  Public  Commencement  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  May  2Oth, 
1766,  Printed  by  William  dr*  Thomas  Bradford,  at  the  London  Coffee  House, 
MDCCI.XIl,  p.  112.  This  is  title  No.  2213  in  Mr.  Hildeburn's  Issues  efthe  Press, 
ii.  51.  Though  there  were  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  copies  of  this  publica- 
tion subscribed  for  by  the  leading  citizens  and  other  friends  of  the  College,  yet  the 
book  is  now  very  rare.  See  also  Life  and  Correspondence  of  President  Keed,  \.  40. 


3/O       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  presentation  of  the  Sargent  Medal  to  Dr.  Morgan  at 
the  ensuing  commencement  was  a  great  feature  of  the  occasion. 
"  His  Honour  the  Governor  as  President  of  the  Trustees,"  gave 
"  into  the  Hands  of  the  Provost  the  Prize  Medal,  ordering  him 
to  deliver  the  same  as  it  had  been  previously  decreed ;"  the 
Provost  in  a  few  words  introduced  Dr.  Morgan  who  "  then 
delivered  his  Essay,  which  was  received  with  the  highest  appro- 
bation by  the  Audience ;"  after  this  the  Provost  added, 

Sir.  Ab  the  reward  of  your  great  merit  in  this  elegant  Performance, 
I  am  in  the  name  of  the  Trustees  and  Faculty  of  this  College,  as  well  as 
in  behalf  of  the  worthy  donor,  to  beg  your  acceptance  of  this  Gold  Medal. 
Its  intrinsic  value  may  not  be  an  object  of  much  consideration  to  you,  but 
the  truly  honorable  circumstances  by  which  it  now  becomes  yours,  must 
render  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  jewels  in  your  Possession.  That  the 
first  literary  Prize  in  this  Institution  should  fall  to  the  Share  of  one  of  its 
eldest  sons,  who  to  much  Genius  and  Application,  has  joined  much  knowl- 
edge of  the  World,  will  not  seem  strange.  Yet  still  for  the  honor  of  this 
Seminary,  and  what  will  not  derogate  from  your  Honor,  it  will  appear  that 
you  have  obtained  this  pre-eminence  over  no  mean  Competitors.  Some  of 
our  younger  Sons  (among  whom  we  ought  not  to  omit  the  Name  of  the 
modest  and  candid  Watts,  with  some  others  even  of  inferior  standing)  have 
exhibited  such  vigorous  Efforts  of  Genius  and  tread  so  ardently  on  the 
Heels  of  you  their  Senior,  that  it  will  require  the  utmost  Exertion  of  all 
your  Faculties,  the  continual  straining  of  every  Nerve,  if  you  would  long 
wish  to  lead  the  way  to  them,  in  the  great  Career  of  Time. 

This  address  of  the  Provost  to  Dr.  Morgan,  or  Eulogium 
as  entered  in  the  Minutes,  is  in  part  there  recorded.  It  was  a 
happy  circumstance  that  the  news  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act  had  reached  Philadelphia  the  day  before  the  Commence- 
ment, and  the  publication  of  Dr.  Morgan's  Essay  was  most 
opportune.  And  we  can  picture  to  ourselves  the  warmth  and 
earnestness  of  the  following  words  of  the  zealous  Provost  in  his 
address  on  delivering  this  Medal : 

Truly  delicate  and  difficult,  we  confess,  was  the  Subject  prescribed  to 
you  to  treat  of  the  reciprocal  advantages  of  a  perpetual  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies  at  a  Time  when  a  fatal  misunderstanding 
had  untwisted  all  the  Cords  of  that  Union,  and  the  minds  of  many  were 
too  much  inflamed.  This  Difficulty  was  likewise  increased  to  us  by  other 
considerations.  Great  Britain,  who  by  her  Liberality,  had  raised  this 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       371 

College  from  a  helpless  to  a  flourishing  State  had  an  undoubted  Demand 
on  us  for  all  the  returns  of  Gratitude.  Yet  we  could  not,  we  durst  not, 
divert  the  streams  of  Learning  from  their  Sacred  Course.  Our  country, 
nay  all  America,  had  a  Right  to  expect  that  they  should  be  directed  pure 
along  to  water  the  goodly  TREE  OF  LIBERTY,  nor  ever  be  suffered  to  cherish 
any  rank  Weed  that  choaks  its  Growth.  In  this  most  difficult  Conjuncture, 
we  rejoice  to  behold  you  in  your  early  years,  exercising  all  the  Temper  and 
Prudence  of  the  most  experienced  Patriots.  We  rejoice  that  ever  we  had 
the  least  Share  in  forming  Sentiments  which  have  led  you  so  powerfully  to 
shew,  that  in  the  everlasting  Basis  of  reciprocal  Interest  and  a  participa- 
tion of  constitutional  privileges,  our  Union  shall  be  perpetuated,  and  our 
bleeding  Wounds  healed  up  without  so  much  as  a  Scar  by  Way  of  Remem- 
brance. Here  you  have  Shewn  yourselves  entitled  to  the  Name  of  true 
SONS  OF  LIBERTY.  SONS  OF  LIBERTY  indeed !  neither  betraying  her 
sacred  Cause  on  the  one  Hand,  nor  degenerating  into  Licentiousness  on 
the  other. 

Young  William  White,  a  few  days  after,  writes  to  his  nephew: 

as  the  Glorious  News  of  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  reach' d  Philadelphia 
the  Day  before  Commencement,  Dr.  Smith,  the  Provost  congratulated  the 
Audience  on  the  joyful  occasion.  His  Piece  will  soon  be  publish'd 
together  with  a  few  of  the  Performances  for  the  Medal.4 

A  delay  had  occurred,  it  has  been  seen,  in  awarding  the 
Sargent  Medal  for  this  political  essay  ;  but  how  opportune  and 
singular  it  was  that  its  final  award  came  contemporaneously  with 
the  tidings  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  which  allayed  a 
crisis  in  the  life  of  the  colonies,  and  seemed  to  give  renewed 
assurances  of  the  perpetuation  of  their  Union  with  the  Mother 
Country;  and  the  donor  of  this  significant  prize  was  a  Member 
of  that  Parliament  against  whose  encroachments  the  people  of 
the  colonies  through  all  their  channels  of  utterance,  their  halls 
of  learning  as  well  as  in  other  ways,  were  now  in  earnest  protesting ; 
and  this  happy  coincidence  placed  the  young  College  in  the 
forefront  of  and  in  sympathy  with  the  great  thought  of  the  day. 

Of  Mr.  Sargent  we  know  but  little  beyond  the  record  of  his 
public  services.5  He  renewed  his  correspondence  with  Dr.  Frank- 


*  MS.  Letter.  Bp.  White  to  his  nephew  Benedict  Edward  Hall  of  Baltimore 
County,  31  May,  1766. 

4  Mr.  John  Sargent  was  appointed  Store  Keeper  of  the  King's  Yard  at  Deptford 
in  1746,  afterwards  was  Merchant  in  London  and  a  Director  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 


372       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

lin  after  the  peace,  and  the  latter  writes  him  from  Passy,  27  Janu- 
ary, i783.6 

I  received  and  read  the  letter  you  were  so  kind  as  to  write  me  on  3rd 
instant,  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure,  as  it  informed  me  of  the  welfare  of 
a  family,  whom  I  have  so  long  esteemed  and  loved,  and  to  whom  I  am 
under  so  many  obligations,  which  I  shall  ever  remember.  Our  correspon- 
dence |has  been  interrupted  by  that  abominable  war.  I  neither  expected 
letters  from  you,  nor  would  I  hazard  putting  you  in  danger  by  writing  any  to 
you.  *  *  *  Mrs.  Sargent  and  the  good  lady,  her  Mother,  are  very  kind 
in  wishing  me  more  happy  years.  I  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  those  Provi- 
dence has  already  been  pleased  to  afford  me,  being  now  in  my  seventy- 
eighth  ;  a  long  life  to  pass  without  any  uncommon  misfortune,  the  greater 
part  of  it  in  health  and  vigor  of  mind  and  body,  near  fifty  years  of  it 
in  continued  possession  of  the  confidence  of  my  country,  in  public  employ- 
ments, and  enjoying  the  esteem  and  affectionate,  friendly  regard  of  many 
wise  and  good  men  and  women,  in  every  country  where  I  have  resided. 
For  these  mercies  and  blessings,  I  desire  to  be  thankful  to  God,  whose 
protection  I  have  hitherto  had,  and  I  hope  for  its  continuance  to  the  end, 
which  cannot  be  far  distant 

This  letter  contains  one  of  those  quaint  phrases  which  so 
often  find  their  way  into  Franklin's  correspondence  : 

The  account  you  give  me  of  your  family  is  pleasing,  except  that  your 
eldest  son  continues  so  long  unmarried.  I  hope  he  does  not  intend  to  live 
and  die  in  celibacy.  The  wheel  of  life,  that  has  rolled  down  to  him  from 
Adam  without  interruption,  should  not  stop  with  him.  I  would  not  have 
one  dead,  unbearing  branch  in  the  genealogical  tree  of  the  Sargents.1 


land,  and  from  1754  to  1761,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Midhurst,  and  1765-8,  M.  P. 
for  West  Looe,  Cornwall.  He  first  possessed  the  mansion  of  May  Place  in  Kent  and 
afterwards  purchased  Halstead  Place,  fie  died  at  Tunbridge  Wells,  20  Septem- 
ber, 1791.  His  son  John  was  the  author  of  the  Mine  and  other  Poems;  in  1790  he 
was  M.  P.  for  Seaford,  in  1793  for  Queensborough,  and  after  parliamentary  service  he 
accepted  the  Stewardship  of  the  Chiltern  Hundreds  in  1806,  and  died  in  1831.  His 
eldest  son,  also  John,  born  in  1781,  was  fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge, 
obtained  orders  and  was  presented  by  his  father  to  the  livings  of  Graffham  in  1805 
and  Woollavington,  1813,  where  he  died  3  May,  1833.  One  of  the  latter's  daughters 
married  Samuel  Wilberforce,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Oxford,  and  another  Henry  Man- 
ning, who  succeeded  him  in  the  living  of  Woollavington  and  afterwards  became  Car- 
dinal Manning.  Gentleman? 's  Magazine,  1833.  Supplement,  i.  636,  also  Hansard 
and  Allibone  for  the  last  two  Sargents. 

6  Bigelow,  viii.  256. 

7  and  he  continues  :   "  The  married  state  is,  after  all  our  jokes,  the  happiest, 
being  conformable  to  our  natures.    Man  and  woman  have  each  of  them  qualities  and 
tempers,  in  which  the  other  is  deficient,  and  which  in  union  contribute  to  the  common 
felicity.     Single  and  separate,  they  are  not  the  complete  human  being ;  they  are  like 
the  odd  halves  of  scissors:  they  cannot  answer  the  end  of  their  formation." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        373 
LXL 

Having  thus  anticipated  some  of  the  narrative  of  later 
years,  which  has  been  done  in  order  to  present  unbroken  the 
story  of  the  Sargent  Medal,  we  now  return  to  the  year  1763  to 
note  one  of  the  public  corporate  appearances  of  the  College  ; 
we  find  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  17  November,  the  narra- 
tive of  the  "  Humble  Address  of  the  Vice  Provost  and  Profes- 
sors of  the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Honor- 
able John  Penn,  Esquire,  Lieutenant  Governor,"  in  which  they 
are  "  happy  in  this  Opportunity  of  presenting  him  with  their 
Compliments  of  Felicitation  on  his  safe  arrival  in  this  Province." 
To  which  his  reply*  was  couched  in  appropriate  phrase : 

Being  very  sensible  that  nothing  can  better  advance  the  Interest  and 
Welfare  of  this  young  Colony,  than  the  Encouragement  of  Literature  and 
useful  Knowledge;  you  may  be  assured  that  the  well  established  Seminary 
under  your  care  shall  at  all  times  receive  my  Countenance  and  Protection. 

John  Penn,  now  thirty-four  years  of  age,  had  arrived  in 
Philadelphia  on  30  October,  1763,  on  his  second  visit  to  the 
Province,  and  succeeded  as  Lieutenant  Governor  William 
Denny,  whose  unpopular  administration  was  now  almost  for- 
gotten in  the  coming  of  the  grandson  of  the  founder  of  the 
Province.  The  welcome  accorded  by  the  faculty  of  the  College 
to  Denny  on  his  arrival  in  August,  1756,  in  common  with  other 
public  bodies  and  the  civic  authorities,  had  suggested  the  most 
exalted  promises  for  a  happy  administration  ;  the  local  disap- 
pointment had  been  so  extreme  that  it  tended  to  make  the 
welcome  to  John  Penn  seven  years  later  not  less  loyal  but  much 
less  extravagant.  Governor  Perm's  interest  in  the  institution 
was  manifested  by  his  acceptance  of  a  Trusteeship ;  on  the 
occurrence  of  the  first  vacancy  after  his  arrival  by  the  removal 
of  Mr.  Andrew  Elliot  from  the  Province,  he  was  elected  at  the 
meeting  of  11  September,  1764,  to  succeed  him,  and  at  the 
meeting  of  9  October,  the  Secretary,  Dr.  Smith,  enters  the 
Minute  : 

The  Hon'ble  John  Penn,  Esqr  took  the  oath,  and  subscribed  the 
Declaration  as  required  by  the  Charter,  and  also  subscribed  the  Funda- 


374        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

mental  Article  for  perpetuating  the  Constitution  of  this  Seminary,  atter  which 
he  took  his  seat  at  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

He  soon  was  elevated  to  the  Presidency,  at  the  meeting  of 
1 6  November  following  : 

The  President  [James  Hamilton]  having  signified  to  the  Board  that  his 
affairs  required  his  embarking  soon  for  England,  he  desired  that  the  Trus- 
tees would  proceed  to  the  choice  of  a  new  President  and  the  Hon'  ble  John 
Penn,  Esqr,  Governor  of  this  Province  was  unanimously  chosen;  and 
Mess.  Inglis  and  Lardner  were  appointed  to  acquaint  the  Governor  with 
this  Choice  and  to  request  him  to  do  them  the  Honor  to  accept  of  the 
same; 

which  he  did,  and  took  his  seat  accordingly  at  the  meeting  of  1 1 
December,  succeeding  to  the  brief  incumbency  of  James  Hamilton, 
who  had  been  elected  when  Dr.  Peters  went  to  England  in  June, 
1764,  on  a  visit.  His  uncle,  Lynford  Lardner,  had  been  elected 
a  Trustee  on  8  June,  1762,  but  did  not  qualify  and  take  his  seat 
until  10  January,  1764.  Mr.  Lardner  was  elected  to  the  place 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Leech  in  the  previous  March  ; 
and  at  the  same  meeting  with  him  was  elected  Mr.  Amos  Stret- 
tell  who  succeeded  his  father  who  had  died  the  previous  year. 
In  addition  to  these  two  vacancies  by  death  among  the  Trustees, 
there  had  been  those  caused  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Maddox  and 
Mr.  Masters ;  to  the  former  Thomas  Willing  (was  elected  on  8 
July,  1760;  and  Rev.  Jacob  Duche,  the  first  alumnus  to  be- 
come a  Trustee,  was  elected  on  10  February,  1761.  Mr.  Wil- 
ling, who  thus  became  a  Trustee  at  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
was  the  eldest  son  of  Charles  Willing,  one  of  the  original  twenty- 
four  Trustees,  and  became  an  eminent  merchant,  and  served  his 
city  in  many  public  capacities.  But  Duche  was  his  junior,  being 
but  twenty-three  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  election — a  great 
testimony  to  his  learning  and  intelligence  and  to  his  warm 
interest  in  his  Alma  Mater.  These  are  evidences  that  our  an- 
cestors of  a  century  ago  did  not  always  elect  men  of  mature 
years  to  posts  of  dignity  and  responsibility,  but  equally  with  us 
availed  themselves  when  occasion  served  of  the  services  of  young 
men,  which  we  of  this  generation  claim  to  be  a  peculiar  departure 
of  our  own.  Mr.  Willing  did  not  qualify  until  10  February, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        375 

1761,  "having  been  prevented  by  absence  and  indisposition 
from  giving  his  Attendance  till  now."  When  Dr.  Smith  took 
his  departure  for  England  in  1762,  eleven  of  the  original  Trus- 
tees had  died,  and  also  one  of  those  later  elected,  John  Mifflin. 


LXII. 

The  finances  of  the  institution  did  not  keep  pace  with  its 
growing  influence.  Circumstances  forbad,  it  may  be  presumed, 
higher  charges  or  fees  for  tuition  than  those  already  prescribed. 
There  were  now  "  near  two  hundred  Students  and  Scholars,  be- 
sides eighty  Boys  and  forty  Girls  educated  on  Charity,"  as  stated 
in  the  Address  of  the  Trustees  submitted  at  the  meeting  of  1 5 
December,  1761,  for  Dr.  Smith  to  submit  "to  all  Charitable  Per- 
sons, Patrons  of  Literature  and  Friends  of  Useful  Knowledge." 
And  the  Faculty  consisted  of  "  a  Provost,  a  Vice  Provost,  and 
three  professors,  assisted  by  six  Tutors  or  Ushers,  besides  two 
Masters  and  a  Mistress  for  the  Charity  Schools."  These  were 
Dr.  Smith,  Dr.  Alison,  Professors  Kinnersley,  Williamson  and 
Beveridge,  William  Ayres,  Thomas  Pratt,  Samuel  Campbell, 
Richard  Harrison,  Patrick  Alison,  and  Thomas  Polock,  Tutors; 
John  Davis  and  John  Porter,  Masters,  and  Mrs.  Middleton,  Mistress 
of  the  Charity  School.  The  sum  of  the  salaries  of  these  amounted 
annually  to  .£1321,  to  which  were  now  to  be  added  Dr.  Ewing's 
compensation  for  supplying  the  Provost's  place  in  his  absence, 
amounting  to  £17$.  The  collections  from  the  tuition  fees  in 
1761  amounted  to  £763.15.11.  In  1760  they  amounted  to 
£629.7.6;  in  1 759  to  £414.4.7  ;  in  1758  to  £746.10.1  ;  in  1757 
to  £543.10;  the  greatest  return  was  in  1753,  when  the  sum 
amounted  to  £1102.12.6.  The  total  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end  of  1761,  amounted  to  £6393.19.3^.  The  subscriptions 
from  friends  and  the  kindly  disposed,  for  the  same  period, 


376        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

amounted  to  .£5442. 3. 4  ;  of  which  sum  ,£3376. 12. 4  had  been  real- 
ised before  the  close  of  the  year  1753.  To  these  may  be  added 
the  contribution  in  1753  of  the  City  Council  of  £200,  and  their 
five  years  annuity  of  £100;  the  Proprietaries'  gift  of  £$OO  on 
granting  the  charter  ;  the  proceeds,  namely  £184. 5.1 1 1/2,  of  Rev. 
George  Whitefield's  Charity  Sermon  of  September,  1754;  and 
Henry  Wright's  principal  of  his  annuity  amounting  to  £300, 
granted  in  I759-1  But  the  Trustees  soon  realised  that  the  ordi- 
nary channels  of  income  could  not  meet  their  engagements,  even 
with  an  occasional  special  effort.  And  Lotteries  were  resorted  to 
as  early  as  1757,  and  this  source  of  revenue  through  seven  Lot- 
teries in  all  for  as  many  years  was  well  cultivated.  To  the  end 
of  the  year  1761,  the  sum  of  ^678 1. 17.2  had  thus  been  gathered. 
It  was  an  age  of  Lotteries,  when  all  needy  institutions,  churches 
included,  sought  this  fictitious  and  abused  system  as  a  means  of 
drawing  money  from  their  fellow  citizens  for  needed  wants  under 
the  deceit  of  offering^them  chances  of  gain.  Their  first  scheme 
was  advertised  in  the  Gazette  of  17  March,  1757,  and  introduced 
by  a  statement  : 

the  necessary  expenses  of  this  Institution,  the  constant  support  of  two 
Charity  Schools  in  it  ;  the  late  enlargement  of  the  design  by  opening 
schools  for  Philosophy  and  the  Sciences  ;  the  purchasing  a  compleat  appa- 
ratus for  experiments  therein,  and  fitting  up  the  publick  Hall  for  accom- 
modating the  Inhabitants  at  Commencements  and  other  publick  occasions, 
[and  they]  were  entirely  sensible  that  no  Institution  of  such  extensive 


1  "  Dr.  Smith  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  one  Mr.  Henry  Wright,  of  this 
city,  Whipmaker,  to  whom  he  was  a  stranger,  had  sent  for  him  and  acquainted  him  that 
finding  himself  out  of  order  and  having  of  a  long  time  intended  to  give  his  little  Estate 
to  the  Academy  he  desired  some  of  the  Trustees  might  be  told  of  it  and  come  to 
assist  him  to  draw  such  Writings  as  should  be  thought  necessary  for  that  purpose, 
that  thereupon  Mr.  Chew  and  Mr.  Alexander  Stedman  waited  on  him  and  an  Instru- 
ment was  drawn  at  his  special  direction  wherein  he  acknowledged  to  have  given  to  the 
Trustees  Three  Hundred  Pounds  Currency  for  the  use  of  the  Academy  and  is  to 
receive  from  them  if  demanded  an  Annuity  of  Thirty  Pounds  per  Annum  but  for  no 
longer  time  than  until  the  several  Yearly  Payments  shall  amount  to  the  said  sum  of 
Three  Hundred  Pounds."  Minutes  14  December,  1759.  At  the  meeting  of  8  Janu- 
ary, 1760,  report  was  made  of  the  proper  exchange  of  papers  at  which  Mr.  Wright 
"  was  extremely  pleased  and  told  them  as  he  found  himself  on  the  Recovery  he  would 
continue  to  keep  shop  and  hoped  to  augment  the  sum  already  given  for  this  useful 
Institution." 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       377 

Usefulness  was  ever  supported  in  any  Country  without  some  certain  Rev- 
enue or  Endowment,  independent  of  what  is  paid  by  the  Scholars.  * 

But  these  schemes  were  not  pursued  without  animadver- 
sion by  many  good  citizens.  Bradford's  paper  the  Pennsylvania 
Journal,  had  admitted  to  its  columns  towards  the  close  of  the 
year  1758  some  communications  reflecting  on  the  College  for 
seeking  this  unwarranted  and  unseemly  mode  of  raising  funds, 
which  however  were  accepted  by  its  friends  as  displaying  more 
unfriendliness  to  the  institution  than  condemnation  of  Lotteries 
in  themselves.  These  disturbed  Dr.  Alison  and  his  associates 
of  the  Faculty,  and  he  sought  counsel  and  comfort  from  the 
Trustees.  Had  the  valiant  Provost  at  that  time  not  been 
engrossed  with  his  preparations  to  take  a  quiet  departure  for 
England  to  prosecute  his  appeal  for  redress  against  the  Assem- 
bly, he  would  have  taken  up  his  pen  and  vigorously  met  these 
charges.  Dr.  Alison  was  inclined  to  this  himself,  but  the  com- 
fort and  counsel  he  obtained  from  the  Trustees  only  enjoined 
silence  and  patience.  At  their  meeting  of  9  January,  1759, 

Mr  Alison,  the  Vice  Provost,  with  the  other  Professors,  as  a  Faculty, 
acquainted  the  Trustees,  that  some  Papers  were  published  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Journal,  in  which  many  false  and  scandalous  Aspersions  were 
thrown  on  the  characters  of  the  Trustees  and  Professors  ;  and  sundry  false 
arguments  brought  against  the  Morality  and  Lawfulness  of  Lotteries,  and 
desired  Leave  to  make  Answer  to  the  said  Papers,  in  order  to  undeceive 
the  People,  and  vindicate  their  Characters.  The  Request  was  taken  into 
consideration,  and  it  was  the  unanimous  Opinion  of  all  present,  that  the 
Professors  should  be  desired  to  forbear  publishing  any  Answers,  because  it 
appeared  to  the  Trustees  and  to  many  sensible  and  sober  Citizens,  with 
whom  they  had  fallen  into  Conversation  on  this  Subject,  that  the  Persons, 
who  were  the  Authors  of  these  Papers  were  some  low  creatures,  who  wrote 
from  Passion  and  Resentment,  that  neither  their  Calumnies  nor  their 


2  The  receipts  from  the  Lotteries  were  as  follows : 

No.  i.     881.  4.  3  '757-  3°9i-  o.n 

2.  2983.  9.  3  1759.  1376.19.11 

3.  914.  I. II  1760.  574.  i.  2 

4.  99°-'7-  8  1761.  739-15-  2 
5-  956.  7-  2^  1762.  877.  8.  7 

6.  1079.  5.  9  1763.  2183.16.  4 

7.  1652.  i.  7  1764.  614.  5.  6% 

9457-  7-  7#  9457-  7-  7# 


378       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Arguments  would  hurt  the  Institution  or  the  Characters  of   any  concerned 
in  the  Trust  or  Schools. 

The  Lotteries  were  too  popular  to  be  scolded  down,  and 
were  too  fruitful  in  financial  results  for  needy  institutions  to 
forego  their  service.  In  the  space  of  a  few  years  at  this  period 
of  the  city's  history  Lotteries  were  opened  to  erect  Christ  Church 
Steeple,3  to  aid  in  building  St.  Peter's  Church  ;  to  finish  St. 
Paul's  Church ,  for  the  Steeple  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  ;  to  enlarge  Trinity  Church,  Oxford,  Philadelphia  County  ; 
for  the  use  of  St.  James'  Church,  and  for  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
at  Lancaster,  Penna.  ;  to  rebuild  St.  John's  Church,  in  Chester 
County  ;  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Middletown,  and  for  the 
new  Presbyterian  Church  on  the  Brandywine ;  for  the  new  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Baltimore  ;  to  build  a  Light  House  at  Cape  Hen- 
lopen  and  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Delaware ;  for  a  bridge  over 
Conestoga  Creek ;  to  pave  Second  Street  from  Race  to  Callowhill 
Street ;  for  a  company  of  rangers  in  Tulpehocken,  Berks  County  ; 
and  one  also  to  raise  ;£6ooo  for  the  New  Jersey  College  at  Prince- 
ton, and  one  for  £  1 1 2  5 . 1 .  i  ^  for  the  new  Germanto wn  Academy, 
the  corner  stone  of  which  was  laid  21  April,  1760,  and  which 
before  the  end  of  the  year  had  gathered  in  sixty-one  English 
and  seventy  German  pupils,  and  where  David  James  Dove  was 
now  employed  as  English  teacher,  and  as  English  usher  or 
tutor  Thomas  Pratt,  whom  by  the  beginning  of  the  year  1762 
we  find  again  in  the  employ  of  the  College  and  Academy.  But 
a  line  was  drawn  on  the  object  of  a  Lottery  if  it  was  not  accept- 
able, for  where  one  was  proposed  for  the  erection  of  public 
baths  and  pleasure  grounds,  the  clergy  and  others  of  the  com- 
munity protested  strenuously  against  them,  as  tending  to 
further  the  growing  inclination  among  the  people  for  "  pleasure, 
luxury,  gaming,  and  dissipation,"  and  among  the  protestants 
were  Dr.  Jenney,  Dr.  Smith,  Dr.  Alison,  Mr.  Ewing  and  Mr. 
Duche. 


3  At  their  meeting  of  30  October,  1752,  the  Vestry  of  Christ  Church  appointed 
twelve  of  their  number,  adding  thereto  Benjamin  Franklin,  to  be  the  Managers  of  the 
Lottery ;  it  is  this  conjunction  which  originated  the  statement  that  Franklin  was  a 
Vestryman  of  Christ  Church,  but  he  was  never  elected  thereto,  though  a  pew  holder 
in  the  Church.  Of  the  Vestry  on  this  Committee,  Mess.  Taylor  and  Leech  were 
Trustees  of  the  College  and  Academy. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       379 

The  evil  influences  of  Lotteries  were  however  recognised, 
and  the  Provincial  Assembly  finally  passed  a  bill  for  their  sup- 
pression, declaring  all  such  schemes,  public  or  private,  to  be 
common  nuisances  and  against  the  good  of  the  province.  This 
action  was  due  to  the  attitude  and  remonstrance  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  whose  influence  in  the  Legislature  was  great ;  but 
the  authorities  at  home  did  not  approve,  doubtless  because  their 
enactment  was  due  to  this  source,  and  Dr.  Peters  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Trustees  on  I3th  January,  1761,  hastened  to  inform  them 

that  the  Governor  had  received  from  the  Council  office  the  Repeals  of 
several  Laws  passed  in  this  Province  in  the  Time  of  the  late  Governor 
Denny  and  among  them  the  Repeal  of  the  Law  for  suppressing  Lotteries 
and  Plays,  which  were  to  be  notified  to  the  Publick  in  the  next  Gazette, 
and  proposed  it  to  the  Consideration  of  the  Trustees  whether  it  might  not 
be  proper  to  have  a  Sixth  Lottery  ;  and  they  were  unanimously  of 
opinion  that  one  should  be  offered  for  the  raising  of  three  Thousand  Pieces 
of  Eight,  and  a  scheme  being  laid  before  them  by  Mr  Charles  Stedman, 
the  same  was  approved  of,  and  the  Management  thereof  committed  to  Mr 
Peters,  Mr  Turner,  Mr  Stedman,  Mr  Willing,  and  Mr  Thomas  'Gordon, 
who  were  to  give  Bond  and  to  be  under  Oath  for  the  faithful  Discharge  of 
their  Duty,  and  they  were  desired  to  take  care  that  the  Tickets  be  printed 
by  Mr  Hall,  and  the  scheme  inserted  in  the  next  Gazette. 

This  last  caution  deprived  Mr.  Bradford  of  an  advertise- 
ment in  his  Jour)ial,  as  they  had  not  forgotten  his  anonymous 
correspondent  of  two  years  before,  who  had  maligned  the 
College  and  its  administrators  for  their  resort  to  Lotteries. 


380        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

LXIII. 

Dr.  Smith  on  his  return  from  England  in  1759  brought 
from  Thomas  Penn  his  gift  to  the  College  of  his  one-fourth  part 
of  the  Manor  of  Perkasie  in  Bucks  County,  containing  twenty- five 
hundred  acres,  through  which  the  Perkiomen  Creek  coursed. 
This  was  thankfully  acknowledged  and  Dr.  Alison  and  Mr.  Coxe 
were  appointed  a  Committee  to  view  the  property,  and  they 
reported  to  the  Trustees  on  8  July,  1760,  upon  its  condition, 
and  recommended  its  sale  : 

The  Land  will  now  sell  better  than  at  any  time  hereafter,  for  many 
years  to  come,  for  the  Tenants  are  pretty  well  able  to  purchase,  having 
cleared  a  great  Quantity  of  Land  for  Corn.  *  *  *  If  we  do  not  sell 
the  Lands  the  present  inhabitants  will  move  off  and  purchase  elsewhere, 
and  sell  their  Leases  to  poor  wretches  for  a  Sum  of  Money,  who  will 
destroy  the  Lands  to  pay  this  Sum  and  to  enrich  themselves  and  probably 
leave  our  Rent  unpaid.  *  *  *  On  the  whole  we  think  that  we  can 
sell  the  whole  Tract  for  three  thousand  pounds  .* 

This  gift  of  the  Proprietary  was  in  the  nature  of  a  permanent 
grant  to  the  Institution  in  lieu  of  the  annuity  of  £50  he  had 
from  the  first  granted  to  the  Provost,  and  as  the  present  rental 
of  the  quarter  of  the  Manor  amounted  by  the  Committee's 
report  to  but  ^43.5,  the  present  gift  was  of  no  advantage  to 
the  College  unless  a  sale  could  be  made  for  ready  funds  which 
in  another  investment  would  yield  more  income  : 

as  Lands  were  now  at  a  very  high  price  owing  to  the  Abundance  of  money 
thrown  into  the  Country  by  the  Army,  *  *  *  and  Mr  Peters  was 
desired  to  send  Mr  Penn  a  copy  of  the  Report  and  Opinion  of  the  Trus- 
tees and  a  proper  Letter  on  the  Subject 

But  many  months  elapsed  before  the  President,  Dr.  Peters,  acted 
in  this  request,  and  at  the  meeting  of  10  February,  1761, 


1  Of  this  Tract  714  acres  were  valued  at  ^1.15  per  acre. 

878  '  "  1. 10 

250  '  "  1.05 

150  '  "  I. 

175  <  "  .18 

333  '  "  about  .10 

2500 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       381 

he  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  some  Difficulties  arising  on  the  more 
mature  Consideration  of  the  Matter  he  had  communicated  to  some  of  the 
Trustees  who  were  of  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  postponed  till  it  could  be 
better  considered,  thereupon  the  Trustees  went  upon  a  serious  Considera- 
tion of  it  and  appointed  Mr  Peters,  Mr  Chew,  &  Mr  Edward  Shippen  a 
Committee  to  draw  up  a  letter  to  Mr  Thomas  Penn  to  desire  leave  to  make 
sale  thereof  and  to  dispose  of  the  Money  arising  therefrom  in  some  other  way 
more  advantageous  to  the  Academy  and  to  preserve  the  same  Reservations 
as  were  in  the  Deed. 

The  suggestion  for  an  early  realization  by  sale  of  this  gift 
of  realty  may  not  have  been  welcomed  by  the  Proprietary ;  but 
however  that  may  be  he  completely  dissembled  it  when  he 
finally  wrote  them  on  II  August,  1762  : 

As  I  have  the  establishment  of  the  Institution  very  much  at  heart, 
and  am  truly  sensible  that  the  constant  attention  and  care  with  which  you  have 
executed  your  Trust  has  under  the  Blessing  of  the  Almighty  raised  the 
reputation  of  the  College  and  Academy  very  high,  and  so  as  to  answer  all 
the  good  Purposes  at  first  intended,  it  is  a  great  Satisfaction  to  me  to  assist 
in  promoting  so  good  a  Work,  and  I  wish  to  do  it  in  such  a  Manner  as 
shall  be  most  agreeable  to  yourselves,  provided  I  can  be  convinced  such 
Method  will  tend  to  the  real  advantage  of  it  considering  the  future  as  well 
as  the  present  Time.  This  consideration  has  induced  me  to  defer  for  so 
long  a  time  the  sending  an  Answer  to  your  very  respectful  and  obliging 
Letter,  and  I  have  not  only  waited  to  consider  the  proposal  you  have  made 
myself,  but  have  desired  the  Sentiments  of  one  or  two  of  my  most  valuable 
Friends,  and  they  do  also  fortify  me  in  my  own  opinion  that  it  will  be 
most  for  the  Interest  of  the  College  to  keep  the  Lands  I  have  granted,  as 
in  the  common  course  of  things  they  must,  though  they  should  not  be 
taken  the  best  care  of,  yield  much  more  to  those  that  are  to  come  after  us, 
than  the  Sum  you  propose  to  raise  from  the  Sale  of  them  ;  I  am  therefore 
under  a  Necessity  of  desiring  you  will  not  think  I  act  an  unkind  part 
when  I  refuse  to  comply  with  your  Request. 

But  that  the  Trustees 

may  not  be  greatly  disappointed  I  have  proposed  that  we  should  give  Five 
Hundred  Pounds  Sterling  to  the  present  Collection  [now  making  by  Dr. 
Smith],  and  if  that  should  not  amount  to  a  sum  sufficient  to  answer  your 
Expectations  I  shall  be  willing  to  add  a  subscription  of  ^50  Currency  a 
year,  till  such  time  as  it  is  redeemed  by  a  Benefaction  of  as  great  value. 

Dr.  Smith's  presence  in  England  was  helpful  to  a  solution 
of  this  matter ;  and  besides  this  contribution  to  the  Collection, 


382        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  promised  annuity  practically  continued  the  sum  formerly 
granted  the  Provost,  for  which  Mr.  Penn  recognized  that  the 
Perkasie  gift  was  n'ot  an  equivalent.  This  was  read  at  the 
meeting  of  9  November,  1762,  and  the  Trustees 

in  considering  the  handsome  and  kind  Manner  in  which  the  Proprietary 
had  expressed  his  favourable  Sentiments  of  the  Trustees  and  their  Con- 
duct, and  the  fresh  Instances  he  had  given  of  his  Generosity,  declared 
unanimously  their  Satisfaction  with  the  Proprietary's  Determination  and 
good  Pleasure,  though  he  had  not  been  pleased  to  favour  their  request. 


LXIV. 

But  we  must  now  return  to  Dr.  Smith's  visit  to  England, 
where  we  have  seen  that  he  arrived  early  in  the  month  of  March, 
1762,  bearing  letters  and  instructions  to  aid  him  in  his  collections 
on  behalf  of  the  College,  whose  funds  were  proving  inadequate 
to  its  proper  maintenance  and  its  further  reputation.  The  rep- 
resentative of  no  other  College  would  have  been  so  well  received 
in  England  as  one  from  an  institution  which  attracted  to  itself  so 
powerful  an  influence  at  home,  and  no  one  better  fitted  for  such 
representation  than  the  young  Scotch  Provost  whose  native 
trait  of  loyalty,  now  that  he  was  in  the  orders  of  the  State 
Church,  made  him  an  Englishman  of  Englishmen.  Harvard, 
and  Yale,  and  Princeton,  were  perhaps  more  self  reliant,  being 
without  those  Home  relations  which  were  so  promising  to  the 
Colleges  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  when  their  Appeals  were 
presented.  King's  College  had  turned  its  face  at  this  time  and 
with  the  same  end  to  England,  and  Dr.  Smith  on  his  arrival 
found  that  the  field  was  not  his  own  ;  but  with  his  ready 
adaptability  to  circumstances,  he  prepared  himself  to  work  in 
partnership  as  well  as  he  could  single  handed. 

The    meeting    of    the    Trustees    held    on    15    December, 
1761,  at   which   these  Letters  and  Instructions  were  approved 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       383 

was  well  attended,  Messrs.  Peters,  Stedman,  Chew,  Willing, 
Duche,  Thomas  and  Phineas  Bond,  White,  Coleman,  Coxe, 
Edward  Shippen,  Inglis  and  Plumsted,  being  present.  They 
addressed  "  All  Charitable  Persons,  Patrons  of  Literature,  and 
Friends  of  Useful  Knowledge"  and 

humbly  represented,  That  about  twelve  years  ago  sundry  Gentlemen  of 
the  City  of  Philadelphia,  observing  the  rapid  Growth  of  the  said  City  and 
Province,  through  the  vast  accession  of  People  from  different  parts  of  the 
World,  became  seriously  impressed  with  a  View  of  the  Inconvenience  that 
must  necessarily  arise  in  such  a  place  if  left  destitute  of  the  necessary 
means  of  Instruction.  They  saw  with  concern  that  after  the  Death  of  the 
first  settlers  (many  of  whom  were  well  educated  before  they  came  into 
America)  the  generality  of  their  Descendants  were  in  danger  of  degene- 
rating into  the  greatest  ignorance,  as  few  of  them  could  afford  the  Expence  of 
educating  their  Children  in  distant  Places,  and  there  was  but  little  Prospect 
of  seeing  anything  speedily  done  in  a  publick  way  for  the  Advancement  of 
Knowledge.  To  prevent  as  much  as  possible  these  Inconveniences  and  to 
make  some  adequate  Provision  for  training  up  a  Succession  of  Good  Men, 
for  the  Service  of  their  Country  in  these  remote  parts  the  above  mentioned 
Seminary  was  begun  by  private  Subscriptions,  and  through  the  Blessing  of 
Almighty  God  and  the  Liberality  of  Individuals  though  unassisted  by  any 
Publick  Encouragement  it  has  in  after  years  arrived  to  a  very  great  Degree 
of  Perfection.  Sundry  excellent  youths  have  already  been  raised  in  it  as 
well  for  the  sacred  office  of  the  Ministry,  as  for  the  civil  Professions  of  Life. 
It  consists  at  present  of  near  two  hundred  Students  and  Scholars  besides 
eighty  Boys  and  forty  Girls  educated  on  charity.  *  *  *  Though  the 
greatest  CEconomy  hath  been  used  in  every  part  of  the  Design  and  nothing 
attempted  but  what  the  Circumstances  of  so  growing  a  place  seemed  abso- 
lutely to  require,  yet  the  necessary  expence  attending  so  large  an  undertak- 
ing hath  greatly  exceeded  all  the  Resources  in  the  power  of  the  Trustees, 
and  as  the  charge  of  the  Seminary  is  now  ,£700  annually  more  than  its 
Income,  they  have  the  disagreeable  Prospect  of  seeing  its  Funds  in  a  few 
years  wholly  exhausted  and  an  end  put  to  its  Usefulness  after  all  their 
labours  for  its  support  unless  they  can  procure  the  assistance  of  generous 
and  well  disposed  persons  abroad.  *  *  *  They  cannot  doubt  but  that 
a  Seminary  of  Learning  placed  in  one  of  the  most  important  Cities  and 
central  Provinces  of  America,  will  meet  with  all  due  Encouragement  from 
the  Friends  of  Religion  and  Learning  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  *  *  * 
And  they  hereby  promise  that  whatever  shall  be  contributed  to  that  End 
shall  be  faithfully  applied  upon  the  same  liberal  and  pious  Plan  whereon  it 
was  first  founded  and  hath  hitherto  been  so  successfully  carried  on.  And  they 
further  promise  that  due  care  shall  be  taken  to  preserve  Lists  of  the  Con- 


384       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tributors  and  to  perpetuate  their  Names  in  the  Institution  with  Gratitude  to 
the  latest  generations. 

The  burden  of  this  appeal  would  seem  to  ignore  the  exist- 
ence of  the  now  venerable  college  at  Cambridge  and  the  well 
grown  institution  at  New  Haven,  were  it  not  for  thought  of  the 
stress  laid  upon  the  establishment  of  a  like  college  on  a  sound 
financial  basis  in  a  chief  city  in  the  new  country,  for  the  College 
in  Philadelphia  was  the  first  practical  attempt  made  to  plant  an 
institution  with  like  ambitious  plans  in  a  community  whose  bus- 
iness connections  and  influences  exceeded  all  other  centres  in  the 
colonies.  A  like  attempt  was  being  followed  by  King's  College 
in  New  York,  but  it  had  not  won  for  itself  in  the  same  term  the 
like  reputation  of  its  elder  sister  of  Philadelphia.  It  may  well 
be  assumed,  however,  that  the  advanced  and  thorough  curriculum 
of  the  latter,  which  had  now  survived  its  experiment  of  a  three 
years'  trial  and  become  an  established  system,  justly  inspired  the 
Trustees  with  the  pleasant  thought  that  the  aims  of  the  Seminary 
whose  care  was  in  their  Trust  had  attained  a  much  higher  plane 
than  any  of  the  other  like  institutions  in  the  provinces  ;  and  who  so 
fitting  to  represent  its  claims  and  needs  abroad  than  the  well 
trained  scholar  who  had  placed  its  reputation  as  a  school  so 
high  ? 

An  address  was  likewise  prepared  to  the  Proprietaries, 
Thomas  and  Richard  Penn, 

returning  them  most  hearty  Thanks  for  all  the  Instances  of  their  Generosity 
and  Protection  which  they  had  shown  to  this  Institution,  by  means  of  which 
and  the  Liberality  of  many  other  good  Friends  of  Learning  they  have  been 
enabled  to  carry  it  on  for  the  space  of  Twelve  Years  and  have  now  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  its  Reputation  extensive  and  its  Usefulness  generally 
acknowledged  and  felt  But  amidst  the  Satisfaction  arising  from  this  we 
find  that  all  Resources  in  our  Power  will  be  insufficient  to  support  it  for 
any  Number  of  years  its  Annual  Expence  so  far  exceeding  its  Income  as 
continually  to  diminish  our  Capital ;  [and  commending  Dr.  Smith]  to  their 
kind  advice  and  assistance  in  prosecuting  this  good  Design,  being  well 
assured  that  benevolent  spirit  and  Love  of  Learning,  which  induced  them 
so  freely  to  become  the  kind  Patrons  of  this  Seminary  will  be  sufficient 
Motives  with  them  to  countenance  and  encourage  this  Design  for  its- 
completion. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       385 

Another  letter  was  addressed  alone  to  Thomas  Perm, 
mainly  on  the  subject  of  the  disposition  of  the  Perkasie  Manor 
property  which  the  Trustees  deemed  best  to  sell  and  realize  a 
sum  of  money  which  they  could  invest  to  better  advantage ; 
to  this,  however,  as  we  have  already  seen,  a  negative  answer  was 
returned  by  Mr.  Penn. 

These  were  enough  for  one  meeting.  Two  days  later  the 
same  Trustees  met,  excepting  Messrs.  Chew,  Willing,  Duche  and 
Coleman,  and  agreed  upon  certain  instructions  to  Dr.  Smith,  and 
made  provision  for  his  expenses  as  well  as  for  the  supply  of  his  post 
in  the  college,  which  Mr.  Ewing  had  been  desired  to  do  "in  his  ab- 
sence and  he  had  kindly  promised  to  do  it  upon  a  proper  Com- 
pensation for  Trouble,"  and  "  Mr.  Peters  and  Mr.  Stedman  were 
desired  to  settle  the  sum  that  should  be  allowed  him."  He  had 
so  faithfully  and  well  supplied  Dr.  Smith's  place  in  his  former 
absence,  that  Dr.  Smith  could  leave  his  pupils  with  confidence 
under  his  care,  a  confidence  he  found  not  misplaced  on  his 
return  to  them  in  1764. 

Dr.  Smith's  instructions  were  placed  in  full  on  the  Minutes. 
In  the  outset  they  assure  him  they  have  proceeded  in  this  affair 
very  much  by  his  Advice,  and  in  Expectation  of  the  hearty  con- 
currence of  our  Honorable  Proprietaries,  and 

we  trust  and  desire  you  will  lose  no  time  either  in  embarking  for  England 
or  when  there  in  setting  about  and  carrying  on  this  good  work  with  your 
utmost  Zeal,  Prudence,  and  Assiduity,  first  waiting  on  the  Proprietaries 
that  by  their  Council  and  Recommendation  you  may  be  enabled  to  make 
a  good  beginning. 

Here  the  urgent  Perkasie  matter  comes  in  : 

Do  not  neglect  to  let  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  know  that  as  Lands  are  now  at 
a  high  Price,  owing  to  our  present  happy  flow  of  Wealth,  if  he  be  inclined 
to  favour  our  application  for  their  sale,  the  sooner  he  sends  his  Orders  the 
greater  Benefit  will  be  likely  to  accrue  to  the  Academy. 

And  then  the  Instructions  proceed  : 

If  Mr.  Franklin  should  be  in  England  on  your  Arrival,  we  desire  you 
will  wait  upon  him,  lay  before  him  your  several  Papers,  acquaint  him  with 


386       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

our  Necessities,  consult  with  him  and  desire  he  will  give  you  all  the  assist- 
ance in  his  Power  and  we  doubt  not  but  he  will  readily  advise  and  assist 
you  and  that  by  his  Means  you  may  be  recommended  to  many  Persons  of 
Wealth  and  Distinction.  If  any  other  of  the  Trustees  should  happen  to 
be  in  England  whilst  you  are  engaged  in  this  Business,  you  are  to  consult 
with  them  from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  may  require. 

The  Treasurer  was  "ordered  to  pay  him  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Pounds  Currency  which  is  advanced  towards 
the  charge  that  may  attend  the  service"  and  they  add  "we 
trust  you  will  lay  it  out  with  the  utmost  Frugality  and  be  care- 
ful to  Keep  an  exact  Account  of  every  Expence  that  you  shall 
be  put  in  the  Prosecution  of  this  Business."  The  dangers  of  a 
voyage  in  those  times  were  provided  for ; 

Mr  Peters  on  our  behalf  has  given  you  a  Credit  on  Mess  Barclay  & 
Co  as  far  as  an  hundred  Pounds  Sterling.  If  you  arrive  safe  there  may  be 
no  use  for  it,  but  in  case  you  shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Enemy  it  may 
be  of  use  to  obtain  a  decent  support  and  a  quick  Exchange  and  conveyance 
to  England. 

The  instructions  continued  with  precision  and  thorough- 
ness to  the  end. 

If  in  six  Months  after  your  arrival  in  England  you  shall  not  meet 
with  Encouragement  nor  see  any  Prospect  of  it,  we  would  have  you  lose  no 
Time  but  take  the  first  opportunity  that  shall  offer  of  returning  home.  But 
if  you  shall  meet  with  good  success,  we  think  it  too  great  a  Risque  for  you 
to  carry  large  sums  of  Money  about  you,  and  therefore  order  you  whenever 
the  sum  collected,  becomes  considerable  to  pay  or  order  it  to  be  paid  into 
the  Hands  of  Mess  Barclay  &  Co.  whom  we  have  appointed  our  Agents  for 
the  receipt  of  all  sums  that  shall  be  collected  on  this  Occasion,  sending 
them  always  along  with  the  Money  or  Order  an  exact  List  of  the  Names  of 
such  as  you  shall  have  received  it  from  which  Lists  we  would  have  trans- 
mitted to  us  from  Time  to  Time  that  we  may  know  how  you  go  on.  *  *  * 
You  will  not  fail  to  write  full  accounts  of  your  proceedings  to  us  by  every 
opportunity; 

and  adding  "  we  most  heartily  pray  for  your  Safe  Arrival  and 
good  Success,"  this  statesmanlike  document  was  concluded. 
Dr.  Peters'  schooling  in  the  Service  of  the  Proprietaries  had  well 
qualified  him  to  draft  the  proper  instructions  to  a  plenipoten- 
tiary. 

Armed    with  these  letters  and  guided  by  these  instructions, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        387 

the  Provost  made  his  final  arrangements  for  departure  on  a  Mis- 
sion which  while  it  had  some  promise  in  it  was  at  the  same  time 
the  cause  of  anxiety  to  those  interests  which  he  was  now  so  not- 
ably to  serve ;  we  can  read  between  the  lines  as  it  were  of  these 
proceedings  of  the  Trustees  and  recognise  the  grave  concern 
which  prompted  this  serious  movement  to  resuscitate  the  finances 
of  the  College  and  secure  a  further  lease  of  life  for  its  usefulness  ; 
and  Dr.  Smith's  cheerful  alacrity  in  responding  to  the  summons 
testified  to  his  sense  of  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  without 
hesitation  he  ventured  on  his  winter  voyage.  On  10  January, 
1762,  he  preached  in  Christ  Church  the  funeral  sermon  over  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Jenney,  its  Rector,  and  on  the  2 5th  he  took  his  depar- 
ture from  Philadelphia  for  New  York,  where  he  remained  until 
13  February  fora  suitable  opportunity  and  on  which  day  he 
sailed  for  England.  He  could  not  have  contemplated,  when  he 
left,  that  an  interval  of  more  than  two  years  and  a  half  would 
occur  before  his  home  would  welcome  his  return.  His  time  in 
New  York  afforded  him  a  renewal  of  his  intercourse  with  Dr. 
Johnson,  who  was  now  made  acquainted  with  the  objects  of 
his  visit  to  England,  and  as  King's  College  had  like  needs  with 
its  fellow  College  in  Pennsylvania  for  present  support,  the 
thoughts  of  Dr.  Johnson  and  his  co-laborers  had  already  turned 
to  the  Mother  Country  hoping  for  aid,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
Dr.  Smith  talked  over  his  plans  with  them,  and  we  shall  not  be 
surprised  to  see  the  two  Colleges  soliciting  collections  side  by 
side,  by  their  respective  emissaries,  for  their  treasuries,  although 
Dr.  Smith  soon  after  his  arrival  in  England  found  to  his  regret 
that  instead  of  proceeding  individually  it  was  the  better  plan  to 
proceed  in  partnership. 

On  reaching  London  early  in  March  he  prepared 

an  Humble  Representation  by  William  Smith  D.  D,  Provost  of  the  College, 
Academy,  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia,  in  behalf  of  said  Semi- 
nary, and  by  appointment  of  the  Trustees  thereof,  To  all  Charitable  Per- 
sons and  Patrons  of  Useful  Knowledge, l 

which  is  a  recapitulation  and  extension  of  the  petition  prepared 
by  the  Trustees  already  noticed,  and  which  he  employed  in 
1  Smith,  i.  295. 


388        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

preference  to  the  briefer  Address  they  had  approved.  To  his 
Humble  Representation  he  added  this  Postscript: 

As  many  pious  Persons  and  Friends  of  Literature,  whom  the  Writer 
of  this  cannot  possibly  know  of,  nor  wait  upon  at  their  respective  Places  of 
abode,  may  be  desirous  of  contributing  to  this  useful  Seminary,  they  will 
be  pleased  to  observe  that  Benefactions  will  be  received  for  it  by  the  fol- 
lowing Gentlemen,  Bankers,  viz  :  Sir  Charles  Asgill  and  Company,  Lom- 
bard Street,  and  Mess  Drummond  and  Company,  at  Charing  Cross. 

He  had  not  yet  communicated  with  David  Barclay  &  Co.  He 
presented  his  letters  to  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  who  received  him 
graciously  and  promised  to  forward  his  scheme  all  in  his  power. 
"  It  is  impossible,  indeed,  forme"  he  writes  "  to  express  how 
hearty  and  zealous  Mr.  Penn  is  in  this  business."  On  19  March 
he  waited  upon  Dr.  Seeker  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
from  him  he  "obtained  the  hint  that  if  a  Brief  should  be  sought 
for  by  him  that  there  had  been  so  many  applications  of  that  sort 
of  late,  that  he  feared  it  would  produce  but  little."  The  Arch- 
bishop of  York  promised  him  also  his  countenance  and  aid.  On 
his  arrival  Dr.  Smith  had  discovered  there  were  two  prime  ways 
for  him  to  pursue  in  making  his  collections  ;  his  Humble  Rep- 
resentation was  in  print,  but  it  must  be  employed  with  skill  ;  he 
could  either  communicate  personally  and  upon  influential  intro- 
duction to  the  individual  wealthy  and  well  disposed,  or  seek  the 
other  plan,  which  was  more  formal  but  of  the  highest  influence, 
that  of  attaining  a  Royal  Brief;  and  he  soon  decided  to  make 
application  for  this. 

The  Brief  was  the  technical  term  given  to  letters  patent  written  in  the 
royal  name  to  the  incumbent  of  every  parish  in  England,  directing  him  to 
recommend  to  his  congregation  some  charitable  object  which  the  King 
was  particularly  desirous  of  promoting,  and  authorising  Collections  to  be 
made  by  specially  appointed  Commissioners  '  from  house  to  house' — these 
are  the  words  of  the  Brief  throughout  the  Kingdom  in  aid  of  the  under- 
taking.2 

The  following  clauses  of  the  Brief  describe  its  authority 
and  scope. 

And  therefore  in   pursuance  of  the  Tenor  of  an  Act  of  Parliament, 


Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  William  Smith,  D.  D.     C.  J.  Stille,  p  25. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       389 

made  in  the  Fourth  Year  of  the  Reign  of  the  late  Queen  Anne,  entitled 
An  Act  for  the  better  collecting  Charity  Money  on  Briefs  by  Letters  Patent, 
and  preventing  abuses  in  relation  to  such  charities,  Our  Will  and  Pleasure  is, 
and  we  do  hereby  (for  the  better  Advancement  of  these  our  Pious  intentions) 
require  and  command  all  Ministers,  Teachers,  and  Preachers,  Church 
Wardens,  Chapel  Wardens,  and  the  Collectors  of  this  Brief,  and  all  others 
concerned,  that  they  and  ever)-  of  them  observe  the  Directions  in  the  said 
Act  contained,  and  do  in  all  Things  conform  themselves  thereunto;  and 
that  when  the  printed  copies  of  these  Presents  shall  be  tendered  unto  you 
the  respective  Ministers  and  Curates,  Church  Wardens  and  Chapel  War- 
dens, and  to  the  respective  Teachers  and  Preachers  of  every  separate  Con- 
gregation, that  you,  and  every  of  you,  under  the  Penalties  to  be  inflicted  by 
the  said  Act,  do  receive  the  same. 

And  you  the  respective  Ministers  and  Curates,  Teachers  and  Preach- 
ers, are,  by  all  persuasive  Motives  and  Arguments,  earnestly  to  exhort  your 
respective  Congregations  and  Assemblies  to  a  liberal  Contribution  of  their 
Charity  for  the  Pious  Intent  and  Purpose  aforesaid  And  you  the  said  Church 
Wardens  and  Chapel  Wardens,  together  with  the  Minister,  and  some  of 
the  substantial  Inhabitants  of  the  several  Parishes  and  Places  accompany- 
ing them,  are  also  hereby  required  to  go  from  House  to  House,  upon  the 
Week  Days  next  following  the  Publication  of  these  Presents,  to  ask  and 
receive  from  the  Parishioners,  as  well  Masters  and  Mistresses,  as  Servants 
and  others  in  their  Families,  their  charitable  and  Christian  Contributions 
and  to  take  the  Names  in  Writing  of  all  such  as  shall  contribute  hereunto, 
and  the  Sum  and  Sums  by  them  respectively  given,  and  indorse  the  whole 
Sums  upon  the  said  printed  Briefs,  in  Words  at  Length,  and  subscribe  the 
same  with  their  proper  Hands,  together  with  the  Name  of  the  Parish  or  Place 
where,  and  the  Time  when  collected,  and  to  enter  the  same  in  the  publick 
Books  of  Account  kept  for  each  Parish  and  Chapelry  respectively;  and  the 
Sum  and  Sums  collected,  together  with  the  said  printed  Briefs,  so  endorsed, 
you  are  to  deliver  to  the  said  Deputies  and  Agents  authorized  to  receive  the 
same.  *  *  * 

And  lastly,  Our  will  and  pleasure  is,  That  no  Person  or  Persons 
shall  receive  the  said  printed  Briefs  or  Monies  collected  thereon,  but  such 
only  as  shall  be  deputed  and  made  the  Bearer  and  Bearers  of  these  Pres- 
ents, or  Duplicates  thereof. 

In  witness  whereof  We  have  caused  these  Our  Letters  to  be  made 
Patent  and  to  continue  in  Force  for  One  \Vhole  Year  from  Michaelmas  Day 
next,  and  no  longer. 

The  "  Trustees  and  Receivers  of  the  charity  to  be  collected 
by  virtue  of  these  Presents,  with  Power  to  any  Five  or  more  of 
them,  to  give  Deputations  to  such  Collectors  as  shall  be  chosen 


390       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

by  the  said  Petitioners,  or  their  Agents  here,"  were,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Henley,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  Earl  Granville,  President  of  the  Council,  the 
Earl  of  Egremont,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  State,  the  Earl  of 
Bute,  the  Earl  of  Halifax,  the  Bishops  of  London,  of  Durham, 
of  Winchester,  and  of  St.  David's,  Lord  Sandys,  Sir  Charles 
Hardy,  Thomas  Penn  and  Richard  Penn,  Proprietors  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Joseph  Hudson  and  George  Clark,  Esquires,  Doctor 
Samuel  Chandler,  Doctor  William  Smith,  Doctor  James  Jay, 
Daniel  Moore,  Robert  Charles,  and  Lynford  Lardner,  Esquires, 
Barlow  Trecothick  and  William  Neate,  Merchants,  Thomas 
Stevenson  and  John  Stevenson,  Gentlemen. 

Endorsed  on  the  Brief  was  "  the  clause  in  the  Act  of  Par- 
liament made  in  the  4th  and  5th  of  Queen  Anne,  against  farm- 
ing of  Briefs,"  and  reciting  the  Penalty  "N.  B.  The  penalty  on 
Ministers,  Church  Wardens  and  others  neglecting  any  Thing 
required  in  this  Act,  is  Twenty  Pounds." 

But  before  this  point  was  reached,  he  found  that  King's 
College  was  already  in  the  field.  His  stay  in  New  York  early 
in  February  and  conferences  with  Dr.  Johnson  on  his  plans  had 
now  borne  fruit  in  the  latter  proposing  to  his  Governors  to  solicit 
funds  in  England  in  like  manner,  and  as  Dr.  James  Jay,  was 
about  proceeding  to  England  on  private  business  he  was  com- 
missioned to  seek  the  contributions  of  those  at  Home  for  the 
College.  He  had  sailed  from  New  York  I  June,  1762,  bearing 
letters  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  "To  all  Patrons  of 
Learning  and  Knowledge,  and  Friends  of  the  British  Empire  in 
America,  The  Governors  of  the  Province  of  New  York  in  the 
City  of  New  York  in  America,  Greeting,"  bearing  date  14  May, 
1762,  which  were  of  the  authorship  of  Dr.  Johnson.  His  instruc- 
tions were  signed  by  J.  T.  Kempe,  Henry  Barclay,  Samuel 
Auchmuty,  Samuel  Johnson  and  James  Duane. 

As  it  is  impossible  in  a  Transaction  of  this  Nature  to  be  very  particular, 
and  as  the  Corporation  place  great  confidence  in  the  Doctor's  Prudence, 
we  submit  the  general  Conduct  of  this  Affair  to  him  ;  and  we  therefore 
only  request  he  will  correspond  with  the  Committee  as  often  as  opportunity 
will  admit  and  acquaint  us  with  the  Progress  he  has  made  and  the  further 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        391 

Prospect  he  has  had  of  advancing  the  Design  he  has  been  so  good  as  to 
undertake,  for  the  Interest  of  the  College.  *  *  *  A  Brief  would  be 
very  beneficial,  but  whether  there  is  a  prospect  to  obtain  this  will  be  the 
best  judged  of  by  their  Lordships,  [i,  e.  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  the  First  Lord  of  Trade,  to  whom  he  was  to  apply  for  Advice]  as  soon 
as  he  conveniently  can  after  his  Arrival. 

Dr.  Jay,  "  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  of  a  liberal  education 
and  of  Eminence  in  his  Profession,"  was  a  native  of  West- 
chester  County,  New  York,  the  fourth  son  of  Peter  Jay 
and  an  elder  brother  of  Hon.  John  Jay.  On  arriving  in 
England  he  at  once  communicated  with  Dr.  Smith,  and 
doubtless  suggested  a  joint  concern  in  their  matters.  He 
had  already  taken  steps  to  securing  a  Brief,  and  the  authorities 
entertaining  this,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  advised  Dr. 
Smith  to  make  a  similar  application,  and  recommended  them 
both  that  a  joint  application  on  behalf  of  both  Colleges  should 
be  made  to  the  King. 

Dr.  Smith  appeared  much  disappointed  at  this  turn  of 
affairs,  and  he  wrote  home  on  10  July  : 

Just  now  I  am  so  disconcerted  that,  I  know  not  what  to  do.  *  *  * 
Dr.  Jay  has  just  called  on  me,  and  told  me  that,  some  business  of  his  own 
calling  him  to  England,  the  people  of  the  College  at  New  York  had  applied  . 
to  and  empowered  him  to  solicit  money  for  them .  Here  was  a  strange 
clashing  of  interests  and  applications,  and  the  common  friends  of  both 
Colleges  were  afraid  that  both  schemes  might  be  defeated  by  this  method 
of  doing  business,  and  that  the  public  would  be  disgusted  with  such  fre- 
quent applications,  and  so  close  upon  the  heels  of  each  other.  A  proposal 
was  made  to  unite  both  designs,  but  I  thought  my  own  interest  best,  pro- 
vided the  good  Archbishop  shared  his  countenance  equally,  and  we  could 
agree  to  keep  at  a  good  distance  from  each  other  ;  nor  could  I  well  stomach 
the  thought  of  being  concerned  with  people  who  had  followed  so  close 
upon  us  as  if  on  purpose  to  interfere  with  and  prevent  our  success.8 

To  the  Trustees  he  writes  of  the  : 

Great  perplexity  which  the  Headlong  and  ill-timed  Application  from  the 
College  of  New  York  gave  to  the  Archbishop  and  other  great  Personages 
who  were  equally  disposed  to  serve  both  Designs.  *  *  *  After  the 
Transactions  and  clashing  of  Interests,  whereof  my  former  letters  will  fully 
acquaint  you,  it  was  agreed,  with  the  particular  Advice  of  the  Archbishop, 

8  Smith  i.  300. 


392        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr.  Penn  and  Dr.  Chandler,  and  also  by  his  Majesty's  express  approba- 
tion, and  Lord  Bute's  desire,  that  the  two  Designs  should  be  united.  *  *  * 
And  that  his  Majesty  himself  would  so  far  show  his  Countenance  to  this 
Plan,  as  to  begin  it  with  a  Mark  of  his  Bounty  to  both  Institutions. 

That  same  concurrence  of  thought  had  existed  between 
Dr.  Smith  and  Dr.  Johnson  on  this  subject  in  their  February 
conferences,  there  can  be  little  doubt.  Dr.  Johnson  was  unpre- 
pared to  cross  the  ocean  himself,  and  at  that  moment  there  was 
no  one  to  send.  But  after  Dr.  Smith's  departure  from  New 
York,  the  knowledge  of  Dr.  Jay's  proposed  visit  to  England 
afforded  Dr.  Johnson  the  opportunity  desired  of  a  personal 
solicitation  from  friends  in  England.  Dr.  Jay  says  : 

While  I  was  in  New  York,  and  intending  to  come  to  England  on 
some  business  of  my  own,  the  Rev  Dr  Johnson  proposed  it  to  me  to  make 
a  Collection  in  this  Kingdom,  for  the  Benefit  of  that  Seminary  which  I 
consented  to  do.  The  Doctor  called  a  meeting  of  the  Governors  of  the 
College  and  laid  the  matter  before  them  and  they  appointed  a  Committee 
to  confer  with  me  on  the  subject. 

Dr.  Jay's  immediate  consultations  with  Dr.  Smith  on  his 
reaching  England  testify  to  his  knowledge  of  Dr.  Smith's 
plans,  and  of  his  readiness  to  join  the  work  of  the  two  Colleges 
'in  one  comprehensive  scheme.  But  by  previous  correspondence, 
Dr.  Jay  may  have  prepared  the  way  in  a  measure  for  his  work, 
knowing  that  the  Philadelphia  ambassador  had  already  been 
three  months  on  the  ground  ;  and  while  Dr,  Smith  had  hesitated 
about  resorting  to  a  brief,  hoping  great  things  doubtless  from 
the  Penn  influence,  Jay  had  lost  no  time  in  complying 
with  his  special  instructions  and  had  applied  for  a  Brief 
immediately  on  his  arrival.  Dr.  Smith  afterwards  wrote  of  him  : 
"  Jay  is  an  active  and  sensible  young  fellow."4 

In  the  union  of  these  two  appeals,  great  gain  was  made 
for  both,  as  the  results  proved  and  each  College  was  materially 
bettered  by  the  joint  mission,  for  time  was  saved  by  each,  and 
the  minister  of  each  traveling  in  different  ways  could  present  to 

*  He  was  five  years  the  junior  of  Smith.  See  Dr.  Jay's  Letter  to  the  Governor 
of  the  College  of  New  York  respecting  the  Collection  for  the  Colleges  of  Philadelphia 
and  New  York,  London,  1771,  by  Sir  James  Jay,  Knight,  M.  D.  This  pamphlet 
exhibited  the  unhappy  controversy  he  fell  into  with  the  College  authorities  on  the 
closing  of  his  collections. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        393 

his  auditors  and  his  friends  two  noble  schemes  of  education 
which  the  New  England  in  distant  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
were  endeavoring  to  plant  on  sure  foundations.  The  early 
disappointment  of  Dr.  Smith  was  turned  into  a  measure  of 
success  he  liad  hardly  hoped  for.  Eventually  Dr.  Smith 
admitted  this  in  his  letter  of  1 1  February,  1764,  when  he  says  : 
"  taking  the  cause  of  New  York  along  with  ours,  rather  than . 
acting  in  opposition,  by  which  each  of  us  have  got  double  of 
what  we  could  in  that  case  have  hoped  for  singly."  Jay's  appeal 
had  shown  a  great  strength,  inasmuch  as  he  represented  a 
"  King's  College,"  whose  title  alone  appealed  directly  to 
royalty,  and  with  success,  and  the  royal  bounty  was  testified  to  in 
the  sum  of  £400  to  the  College  he  represented,  while  the 
Philadelphia  College  was  remembered  to  the  extent  of  but  £200. 
When  the  tidings  of  the  Prince's  birth  reached  New  York,  the 
Governors  of  the  College  prepared  an  address  of  loyal  congrat- 
ulations to  the  King,  which  Dr.  Jay  presented  in  person  on  23 
April,  1763,  at  which  time  he  was  knighted  by  the  King.5 

Dr.  Smith's  description  of  the  issue  of  the  Brief  is  told  to 
the  Trustees  in  that  loyal  strain  in  which  his  enthusiasm  showed 
the  brightest,  and  concludes  the  letter  already  quoted.6 

The  glorious  12  August  (the  ist  o.  s.)  remarkable  heretofore  for  so 
many  good  things,  viz  :  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne 7  and  Minden,  and  the 
accession  of  the  present  Royal  Family  ;  became  again  remarkable  for  the 
Birth  of  a  young  Prince,  the  accession  of  the  Riches  of  the  Hermione,  a 
larger  prize  than  Anson's,  and  if  small  things  may  be  mentioned  after  these, 
the  ordering  and  passing  our  Brief,  which  three  things  happened  before 
9  o'clock  on  Thursday  Morning.  For  the  Prince  [George  IV.]  was  born 
half  an  hour  past  seven ;  the  Trea'sure  passed  by  the  Palace  a  little  after  Eight, 
and  the  Council  that  met  before  Nine  to  Register  the  Birth  did  our  Busi- 
ness. The  circumstances  attending  this  were  as  honorable  to  us  as  any- 
thing could  be.  For  finding  that  we  could  get  no  Council  to  meet  on  our 
Account,  and  finding  that  the  Chancellor  and  others  thought  not  very 
favorably  of  the  Design,  as  it  might  lead  to  too  frequent  Applications  of 
the  like  Nature  from  the  Colonies,  we  fixed  before  hand  with  the  Archbishop 


5Sir  James  Jay  died  in  New  York,  12  October,  1815. 
•Minuies  of  November  1762. 

7  Here  lie  wrote  hastily,  for  the  Battle  of  Boyne   was  on    I  July,  1690,  n.  s 
and  that  of  Minden  on  I  August,  1759,  n.  s. 


394        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

that  the  Council  of  State  Officers  that  should  immediately  meet  on  the 
joyous  Occasion  of  the  Queen's  Delivery  would  not  only  be  the  most  favour- 
able Moment  for  us,  but  also  the  most  honourable  if  any  of  such  Business 
could  be  introduced.  The  good  Archbishop  engaged  to  try  what  could  be 
done,  and  I  got  the  Clerks  of  the  Council  to  promise  me  early  Notice  to 
attend  with  the  Petition.  The  Event,  however,  happened  sudden  and  easy 
to  the  Queen,  as  every  Briton  had  prayed  it  might  and  before  I  could  hear 
of  it,  and  had  huddled  on  my  Gown  to  run  to  St.  James'  with  my  Petition,  the 
Council  was  convened  in  the  King' s  Closet.  I  meditated  whether  it  was 
proper  to  send  in  any  Thing  under  cover  to  the  Archbishop  while  in  the 
Royal  Presence,  and  as  I  was  perplexing  myself  about  this,  the  Council 
rose.  I  immediately  saw  his  Grace,  who  wished  me  double  Joy,  on  the 
Birth  of  a  Prince  and  the  Completion  of  our  Business,  of  which  he  had  not 
been  unmindful.  For  before  he  went  into  Council,  he  desired  Lord  Egre- 
mont,  who  presides  in  Lord  Granville's  absence,  to  propose  it.  His  Lord- 
ship doubted  whether  anything  of  Business  had  been  ever  introduced 
on  such  an  occasion.  Lord  Bute,  who  was  very  willing  to  have  our  busi- 
ness through,  observed  that  there  was  on  the  present  occasion,  one  other 
Piece  of  Business  to  be  done,  viz  :  qualifying  Lord  Berkly  as  Constable  of 
the  Tower,  and  that  ours  might  also  be  done.  When  the  Council  met, 
Lord  Egremont  did  accordingly  propose  our  affair  (the  Archbishop  giving 
the  Substance  of  the  Petition,  for  I  had  got  the  original)  and  after  some  few 
Objections  and  Answers  to  them,  our  good  and  gracious  King  himself  signi- 
fied his  Royal  Pleasure  that  if  there  was  nothing  contrary  to  Right  in  what  we 
desired,  it  might  be  granted,  and  Lord  Bute  further  informed  that  his 
Majesty  had  so  far  approved  the  Thing  already  as  to  be  a  Contributor  to  it  ; 
upon  which  it  was  unanimously  and  without  more  Difficulty  agreed  to,  the 
Chancellor  and  other  State  Officers  being  present  ;  and  I  have  this  Moment 
received  the  Order  of  Council  from  Mr  Sharpe  who  has  been  truly  oblig- 
ing in  the  Affair  and  made  a  present  of  his  Fees  to  the  Design,  though  the 
other  Fees  are  still  pretty  high. 

Would  that  the  life  of  the  young  Prince  who  first  saw  light  this 
day  had  been  equally  meritorious  in  its  purposes  and  aims  as 
were  those  of  the  Brief  now  granted  at  the  Council  called  to- 
register  his  birth. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       395 

LXV. 

That  portion  of  the  Instructions  to  Dr.  Smith  relating  to  Dr. 
Franklin  appears  in  effect  to  have  failed  in  compliance  with  on  his 
part,  if  absence  of  such  reference  to  it  in  his  letters  can  be 
accepted  as  evidence.  The  instruction  to  consult  and  advise 
with  him  could  neither  have  been  agreeable  to  Dr.  Smith  or 
welcome  to  the  latter.  Political  controversies  at  home  had 
been  so  embittered  as  to  diminish  any  cordiality  which  in  their 
first  intercourse  may  have  existed  between  them  ;  and  Franklin 
could  not  have  forgotten  the  injurious  reference  in  the  American 
Magazine  of  October,  1758,  to  his  reputed  claims  of  certain 
discoveries  in  Electricity  made  by  its  Editor  at  a  time  and  in  a 
publication  of  general  circulation  when  he  was  too  faraway  from 
home  to  promptly  acknowledge  its  unkindness  ;  but  it  must  have 
afforded  Franklin  a  grim  satisfaction  to  learn  that  the  number 
which  was  so  freighted  with  injustice  was  the  last  issue  of  a  Maga- 
zine which  had  been  published  and  edited  in  interests  which  were 
in  no  wise  friendly  to  him.  However,  this  maybe,  we  may  well 
suppose  their  intercourse,  for  the  brief  period  they  were  at  the 
same  time  in  London,  was  strained ;  all  we  know  is  Dr.  Smith's 
account  of  his  earlier  collections  made  before  the  issue  of  the 
Brief  he  sent  by  the  hands  of  Dr.  Franklin  to  the  Treasurer,1 
and  this  implies  some  recognition  of  the  instructions  of  the 
Trustees  ;  but  as  Dr.  Smith  for  personal  and  other  reasons 
greatly  counted  upon  the  influence  of  the  Penn  family,  he  could 
not  seek  that  of  Franklin  with  any  intent  of  abiding  by  it  should 
it  run  counter  to  the  paths  pointed  out  by  the  Proprietaries.  It 
has  been  claimed  that  Dr.  Franklin  opposed  Dr.  Smith's  efforts 
by  insinuating  to  his  friends  the  narrowness  of  the  institution 
which  was  sought  to  be  benefited,  and  in  effect  thwarted  his 
efforts  in  certain  influential  quarters.2  But  the  circumstances  of 
the  case  do  not  sustain  the  charge  in  the  absence  of  any  direct 
evidence  to  that  effect.  That  Dr.  Franklin  felt  less  interest  in 


1  Letter  to  Dr.  Peters,  24  April,  1763.  This  appears  to  be  his  only  reference 
to  an  intercourse  with  Dr.  Franklin.     Smith  i.  317. 

2  Smith  i.  326.     Dr.  Stille's  Memoir  p.  30. 


396       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  institution  than  formerly  there  can  be  but  little  doubt ;  but 
his  lukevvarmness  now  was  rather  to  the  representative  than 
the  constituent.  Dr.  Smith's  plans  for  Collections  were  not  put 
at  once  into  execution  as  he  soon  recognized,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  value  and  importance  of  securing  a  Royal  Brief,  although  he 
had  obtained  some  of  the  first  fruits  of  his  visit ;  his  prime 
efforts  being  reserved  until  armed  with  the  plenitude  of  the 
Brief.  He  did  not  receive  a  copy  of  the  Fiat  of  the  Brief  until 
1 8  August,  which  was  formally  issued  on  the  ipth,  while  Dr. 
Franklin  was  on  board  ship  on  17  August  in  the  Downs  waiting 
a  favorable  wind  to  carry  him  home.3  The  latter  had  no 
influence  at  Court  wherewith  to  impede  Dr.  Smith's  steps,  and 
he  was  on  the  sea  when  the  Brief  was  issued.  No  intimation 
occurs  in  his  letters  to  the  Trustees  implying  he  had  met  with 
any  obstacles  by  Franklin,  which  had  they  existed  would  have 
been  eminently  proper  for  him  to  inform  them  of,  if  only  to 
relieve  himself  from  the  imputation  of  neglecting  their  special 
instructions  in  the  premises  ;  indeed,  it  has  been  seen,  that  he 
made  Dr.  Franklin  the  bearer  of  his  first  statement  of  receipts 
to  the  Trustees,4  which  he  would  have  been  relieved  from  had 
any  imputation  arisen  of  Dr.  Franklin's  efforts  to  thwart  his 
plans.  The  only  allusion  to  an  opposition  of  Dr.  Franklin 
to  his  work  occurs  in  a  private  letter  of  Dr.  Smith,  where  he 
recites  that 

an  eminent  Dissenter  called  on  me,  and  let  me  know  that  Dr  Franklin  took 
uncommon  pains  to  misrepresent  our  Academy,  before  he  went  away,  to 
sundry  of  their  people,  saying,  that  it  was  a  narrow,  bigoted  institution,  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  Proprietary  party  as  an  engine  of  government  ;  that 
the  Dissenters  had  no  influence  in  it  (though,  God  knows,  all  the  Professors 
but  myself  are  of  that  persuasion)  with  many  things  grievously  reflecting 
upon  the  principal  persons  concerned  in  it  ;  that  the  country  and  Province 
would  readily  support  it  if  were  not  for  these  things  ;  that  we  have  no  occa- 
sion to  beg  ;  and  that  my  zeal  proceeds  from  a  fear  of  its  sinking,  and  my 
losing  my  livelihood.  *  *  *  The  virulence  of  Dr  Franklin  on  this 


3  Bigelow  iii.  2IO. 

4  Smith  i.  306,  319,  "  .£300.  of  the  cash  I  sent  Mr.  Coleman  on  account  by  Mr. 
Franklin.    *  *  I  wonder  you  should  desire  to  know  what  I  collected  before  Dr.  Jay 
came  over.     I  sent  an    exact  list  of  it  to  Mr.   Coleman  by    Mr.    Franklin,   and  he 
received  it."     Letter  24  April,  1763. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       397 

subject  betrayed  itself,  and  disgusted  the  gentleman  who  had  procured  me 
forty  guineas  to  the  design  .* 

In  referring  in  his  diary  to  his  collections  at  Oxford,  he 
complains  "that  at  St.  John's  and  Baliol  Dr  Franklin's  friends 
were  very  averse."6  But  this  lack  of  response  doubtless  was  due 
to  the  man  rather  than  to  the  Provost,  as  they  were  those 
friends  of  Dr.  Franklin  who  now  recalled  the  efforts  made  by 
Dr.  Smith  to  prevent  Oxford  bestowing  on  him  its  Doctorate.7 

"Assuming,"  as  Dr.  Smith's  Biographer  writes,  "the  emi- 
nent dissenter  to  have  spoken  the  truth,  and  Dr.  Smith  to  have 
correctly  reported  him,"  the  charge  is  a  serious  one,  but  needs 
other  support,  in  light  of  the  surrounding  circumstances. 

At  the  first  business  meeting  of  the  Trustees  held  after  Dr. 
Franklin's  return  to  Philadelphia  in  1762,  on  9  November,  he 
attended,  and  must  have  been  an  interested  hearer  of  Dr.  Smith's 
letter  describing  the  steps  to  and  procurement  of  the  Brief,  which 
is  above  largely  drawn  upon  for  our  information.  At  the  meeting 
of  8  February  following  he  attended  and  "presented  the  two 
Gold  Medals  the  Gift  of  Mr  Sargent  of  London,"  and  submitted 
Mr.  Sargent's  letter  written  him  on  the  subject  a  few  days  before 
he  sailed  from  London,  which  would  have  been  done  before  but 
for  the  desire  of  the  donor  that  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Norris 
should  elect  the  subject  for  the  prizes  and  designate  their 
recipients,  which  upon  conference  together  they  declined  to  do. 
It  may  be  safely  assumed,  that  it  was  Dr.  Franklin's  interest  in 
the  College  that  attracted  to  it  these  prizes  of  a  Member  of 
Parliament,  who  personally  was  a  stranger  to  the  institution  or 


5  Smith  i.  336.  •  Ibid  i.  335. 

7  Provost  Stille  refers  to  "  an  imprudent  letter  which  Dr.  Smith  had  written  to 
the  authorities  of  the  University  of  Oxford  protesting  against  a  proposal  to  confer  the 
Degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  on  Franklin."  Memoir  p.  29.  His  Biographer  makes 
reference  to  this :  "  We  are  not  enabled  by  an  exhibition  of  Dr.  Smith's  objections, 
as  assigned,  to  judge  whether  his  action  was  blameworthy,  excusable,  or  to  be  justi- 
fied and  commended."  Smith,  i.  340.  On  Dr.  Smith's  arrival  in  England  he  may 
early  have  learned  of  the  action  of  the  Heads  of  Houses  at  Oxford  taken  on  22  Feb- 
ruary, a  few  weeks  before  "  Agreed,  nem  con.,  that  Mr.  Franklin,  whenever  he  shall 
please  to  visit  the  University,  shall  be  offered  the  compliment  of  the  degree  of  D.  C. 
L.,  honoris  causa,"  and  may  then  have  pursued  steps  to  prevent  this  consummation. 
The  decree  however  was  made  on  30  April.  In  this  controversy  may  be  found  the 
reason  why  Dr.  Smith  avoided  communications  with  Franklin,  though  under  instruc- 
tions to  seek  him.  Sparks  i.  267. 


398        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

any  of  its  managers  except  Dr.  Franklin.  The  latter's  paternity, 
as  it  were,  of  these  valuable  prizes,  the  first  offered  to  the  students, 
may  in  part  account  for  the  tardiness  in  offering  them  to  the 
students,  as  Dr.  Alison  and  Dr.  Ewing,  to  whom  the  design  was 
committed  at  this  February  meeting,  reported  at  the  March 
meeting  the  present  want  of  ability  of  the  students  to  compete 
for  them,  and  it  was,  as  we  have  before  seen,  nearly  two  years 
after  Dr.  Smith's  return  to  his  post  that  finally  steps  were  taken 
to  secure  competition  for  them.  On  24  March,  1763,  Dr. 
Franklin,  with  his  fellow  Trustees,  Hamilton  "  his  honor  the 
Governor,"  Duche,  Phineas  Bond,  Chew,  Strettell,  Peters, 
White,  Thomas  Bond,  William  Shippen,  Coxe,  and  Redman 
attended  "  the  publick  Examination  of  the  Students  held  in  the 
public  Hall  before  a  large  audience  of  People,  and  the 
Students  acquitted  themselves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Trustees." 

In  the  middle  of  April  Franklin  set  out  for  Virginia  on  post- 
office  duties,8  but  returned  in  time  to  attend,  as  we  have  also  seen, 
the  Commencement  exercises  of  17  May  following,  "the  Trustees, 
Professors,  Candidates  for  Degrees  and  Scholars  walking  in  Pro- 
cession to  the  Publick  Hall,  and  as  soon  as  seated  a  Mandate 
under  the  lesser  seal  authorizing  the  Faculty  to  hold  a  Com- 
mencement and  confer  the  Degrees  agreed  to  at  the  last  meet- 
ing was  delivered  to  the  Vice  Provost;"  it  being  by  a  singular 
coincidence  the  only  Commencement  he  could  attend.  And  he 
attended  the  meeting  of  27  May,  and  gave  his  approval  to  the 
'  draughts  of  the  Addresses  to  his  Majesty  and  Lord  Bute," 
prepared  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Dr.  Peters,  Mr.  Stedman 
and  Mr.  Duche,  conveying  the  thanks  of  the  Trustees  for  their 
royal  and  noble  aid  and  countenance ;  and  also  Dr.  Peters' 
draught  of  his  reply  to  Dr.  Smith's  letters  of  8  January, 
12  February,  and  I  March.  We  find  him  early  in  June 
starting  on  a  tour  to  the  Eastern  States,  again  on  postoffice 
claims,  his  daughter  accompanying  him,  from  which  he  did  not 


8  "  I  am  going  in  a  few  days  to  Virginia,  but  expect  to  be  back  in  three  or  four 
weeks."     Letter  to  Jonathan  Williams,  13  April,  1763,  Bigelow  iii,  237. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        399 

return  home  until  5  November.9  These  instances  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  continued  personal  concern  in  the  College  warrant 
the  belief  that  far  from  doing  aught  either  at  home  or  abroad  to 
retard  its  prosperity,  he  was  on  the  contrary  prepared  to  serve 
it  with  his  counsel  and  his  influence,  although  doubtless  with- 
holding his  confidence  in  a  great  measure  from  the  Provost, 
whose  political  affiliations  had  placed  him  in  such  opposing 
influences,  which  in  his  opinion  were  detrimental  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  College.  It  may  be  that  Dr.  Smith  refrained 
from  incorporating  in  his  letters  to  the  Trustees  any  mention  of 
his  apprehensions  of  Dr.  Franklin's  unfriendliness,  from  the  fact 
that  the  latter  was  now  at  home  and  in  occasional  attendance 
on  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees.  Had  such  suspicion  on  Dr. 
Smith's  part  reached  Dr.  Franklin's  notice,  some  denial  would 
have  reached  us  to-day;  there  is  certainly  nothing  on  record 
leading  us  to  suppose  that  his  fellow  Trustees  ever  doubted  Dr. 
Franklin's  fidelity  to  his  Trust,  however  much  Dr.  Peters,  Gov- 
ernor Hamilton  and  others  of  them  might  be  less  intimate  with 
him  than  formerly,  owing  to  the  widening  and  separating  influ- 
ences of  provincial  politics.  But  rumors  soon  reached  Dr. 
Franklin's  ears  that  Dr.  Smith  was  at  this  time  saying  unkind 
things  of  him  in  England.  His  friend  Miss  Mary  Stevenson 
wrote  from  London  on  11  November,  1762,  within  two  days  of 
the  date  he  had  attended  the  first  meeting  of  the  Trustees  after 
his  return,  one  of  her  letters  in  which  she  must  have  narrated  to 
him  some  unfriendly  conduct  of  Dr.  Smith.10  He  acknowl- 
edges this  letter  on  25  March,  1763,  the  day  subsequent  to  his 
attendance  upon  the  public  examination  of  the  students  already 
noticed,  and  one  paragraph  refers  to  this  unwelcome  topic." 

I  do  not  wonder  at  the  behaviour  you  mention  of  Dr  Smith  towards 
me,  for  I  have  long  since  known  him  thoroughly.     I  made  that  man   my 


9  Bigelow  iii.  244.     He  writes  on  15  April,    1764,10  Mrs.  Catharine  Greene, 
"  Public  business  and  our  public  confusions  have  so  taken  up  my  attention  that  I  sus- 
pect I  did  not  answer  [her  letter  of  24  December]  when  I  received  it."   Ibid  iii.  247. 

10  Doubtless  the  attempt  in  the  preceding  Spring  of  Dr.  Smith  to  prevent  the 
Oxford  degree. 

11  Bigelow  iii,  232. 


4OO       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

enemy  by  doing  him  too  much  kindness.  It  is  the  honestest  way  of  acquir- 
ing an  enemy.  And,  since  it  is  convenient  to  have  at  least  one  enemy,  who, 
by  his  readiness  to  revile  one  on  all  occasions,  may  make  one  careful  of  one' s 
conduct,  I  shall  keep  him  an  enemy  for  that  purpose  ;  and  shall  observe 
your  good  mother's  advice,  never  to  receive  him  again  as  a  friend.  She 
once  admired  the  benevolent  spirit  breathed  in  his  sermons.  She  will  now 
see  the  justness  of  the  lines  your  laureate  Whitehead12  addresses  to  his 
poets,  and  which  I  now  address  to  her  : 

Full  many  a  peevish,  envious,  slandering  Elf 

Is, — in  his  works, — benevolence  itself, 

For  all  mankind, — unknown, — his  bosom  heaves  ; 

He  only  injures  those  with  whom  he  lives. 

Read  then  the  Man  ;  does  truth  his  actions  guide, 

Exempt  from  petulance,  exempt  from  pride  ? 

To  social  duties  does  his  Heart  attend, 

As  son,  as  father,  husband,  brother,  friend  ? 

Do  those  who  Know  him  love  him  ?  if  they  do, 

You've  my  permission,  you  may  love  him  too.13 

It  was  doubtless  at  this  time  that  Dr.  Franklin  also  wrote 
these  lines  in  his  copy  of  Dr.  Smith's  Discourses  printed  in  1759, 
on  the  fly-leaf  opposite  the  title  page  where  an  asterisk  at  the  name 
of  the  Author  calls  attention  to  them  ;  it  was  also  doubtless  in 
the  sermons  printed  in  this  volume  that  good  Mrs.  Stevenson 
admired  the  benevolent  spirit  breathed  in  them.  Dr.  Franklin's 
handwriting  cannot  be  questioned,  and  appearing  without  naming 
their  source,  many  have  given  him  the  credit  of  their  authorship, 
which,  however,  his  letter  to  Miss  Stevenson  sets  at  rest. 

One  cannot  part  with  this  unfortunate  difference  between 
the  Founder  and  the  Provost  (and  here  we  can  let  it  rest)  with- 
out now  reciting  the  charge  made  by  Dr.  Smith  affecting  the 


12  Poet  Laureate  in  1757,  succeeding  Colley  Gibber. 

13  These  lines  occur  in  William  Whitehead's  A  Charge  to  the  Poets,  first  printed 
in  1762,  and  found  in  the  edition  of  his  Plays  and  Poems.     The  italics  here  followed 
are  Dr.  Franklin's  in  his  copy  of  the  lines,  in  his  letter  to   Miss  Stevenson,  in  the 
possession  of  the  descendants  of  Mrs.  Hewson,  and  from  which  this  present  copy  of 
his  letter   is   rendered.     These   are  quoted  in  Smith  I,  341,   but  from  the  context 
the  authorship  of  the  epigram  might  be  attributed  to  Franklin  himself.    Their  repro- 
duction here  seems  necessary  after  the  prominence  given  them  by  Dr.  Smith's  Biogra- 
pher, otherwise  they  might  not  have   merited  a  place  in  a  history  of  the  Institution 
with  which  both  were  so  intimately  acquainted.     See  this  letter  in  Bigelow,  iii,  235, 
wherein,  however,  only  the  initial  letter  of  Smith's  name  is  given. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       401 

integrity  of  Dr.  Franklin's  electrical  experiments,  and  which 
must  have  been  accepted  by  the  latter,  when  it  came  to  his 
knowledge,  as  an  unfriendly  act,  for  it  was  recorded  during  his 
first  absence  abroad.  In  the  American  Magazine,  already 
quoted  from  as  under  Dr.  Smith's  editorship,  the  latter  in  his 
Account  of  the  College  and  Academy  in  its  last  number 
includes  the  names  of  the  Professors  and  gives  some  statement 
of  their  respective  abilities  and  reputation  ;  and  in  speaking  of 
Mr.  Kinnersley  he  uses  this  language  : 

He  is  well  qualified  for  his  position  ;  and  has  moreover  great  merit 
with  the  learned  world  in  being  the  chief  inventor  (as  already  mentioned) 
of  the  Electric  apparatus,  as  well  as  author  of  a  considerable  part  of  those 
discoveries  in  Electricity  published  by  Mr  Franklin  to  whom  he  commu- 
nicated them.  Indeed  Mr  Franklin  himself  mentions  his  name  with 
honor,  tho'  he  has  not  been  careful  enough  to  distinguish  between  their 
particular  discoveries.  This,  perhaps,  he  may  have  thought  needless,  as 
they  were  known  to  act  in  concert  But  tho'  that  circumstance  was  known 
here,  it  was  not  so  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  world  to  which  the  fame  of 
these  discoveries  have  extended. 

Allusion  has  before  this  been  made  in  these  pages  to 
charges  of  Franklin's  plagiarism  in  electrical  experiments,  that 
some  of  his  opponents  maintained,  which  however  were  not  sup- 
ported by  any  statements  of  Kinnersley  himself;  but  this  is  no 
place  to  discuss  their  merits  ;  and  the  fact  remains  that  when 
preferred  in  this  public  manner,  and  in  Franklin's  absence 
abroad  by  a  well-known  writer  and  one  who  had  been  intimately 
associated  with  him  in  the  management  of  the  College,  they 
could  not  but  be  accepted  by  their  object  other  than  as  an  act 
of  extreme  unkindness  and  unfriendliness,  and  memory  would 
retain  their  sting  for  a  long  time.  Franklin  could  not  but  recall 
those  earlier  years  of  constant  communion  with  him  in  the  con- 
cerns of  the  young  Academy,  and  of  his  own  particular  efforts 
to  secure  the  young  Scotch  tutor  to  its  aid  at  the  outset.  But 
Dr.  Smith's,  "our  dear  Franklin14,"  of  1754,  was  no  more,  and 
Franklin  had  now  recorded  in  his  quotation  above  given  the 
withdrawal  of  his  friendship  and  confidence  from  Dr.  Smith. 

14  Smith,  i.  51. 


4O2        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

However,  the  lives  of  both  were  spared  long  enough  for 
them  to  overcome  this  unhappy  estrangement,  and  the  survivor 
did  large  justice  to  his  early  and  older  friend,  "  his  earliest 
friend  in  Pennsylvania,"15  in  his  Eulogy  on  Franklin  in  1791. 

From  West  to  East,  by  land  and  on  the  wide  ocean,  to  the  utmost 
extent  of  the  civilized  globe,  the  tale  hath  been  told — that  the  venerable 
sage  of  Pennsylvania,  the  patriot  and  patriarch  of  America  is  no  more. 
*  *  *  *  Yes,  thou  dear  departed  friend  and  fellow  citizen  !  Thou, 
too,  art  gone  before  us — thy  chair,  thy  celestial  car,  was  first  ready.  We 
must  soon  follow,  and  we  know  where  to  find  thee.  May  we  seek  to  follow 
thee  by  lives  of  virtue  and  benevolence  like  thine — then  shall  we  surely 
find  thee,  and  part  with  thee  no  more  forever.  16 


LXVL 

Returning  to  the  more  agreeable  topic  of  Dr.  Smith's 
journeyings  and  collections  in  England,  we  find  in  the  Minute 
of  the  King's  Council  of  12  August  directing  the  issue  of  the 
Brief,  the  following  recital : 

Whereas  there  was  this  day  read  to  his  Majesty  at  this  Board  the 
Joint  Petition  of  William  Smith,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  Agent  for  the  Trustees 
of  the  College,  Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia,  in  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Provost  of  that  Seminary;  and  of  James 
Jay,  Doctor  in  Physic,  Agent  for  the  Governors  of  the  College  of  the 
Province  of  New  York,  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  America,  Setting  forth, 
That  the  great  growth  of  these  Provinces  and  the  continued  accession  of 
People  to  them  from  the  different  parts  of  the  World,  being  some  years  ago 
observed  by  sundry  of  his  Majesty's  good  subjects  there,  they  became 
seriously  impressed  with  a  view  of  the  inconvenience  like  to  arise  among 
so  mixt  a  multitude,  if  left  destitute  of  the  necessary  means  of  instruction, 
differing  in  Language  and  Manners,  unenlightened  by  Religion,  uncemented 
by  a  common  Education,  Strangers  to  the  human  Arts,  and  to  the  just  use 
of  Rational  Liberty.  [And  reciting  the  fears  caused  by  the]  amazing  pains 
which  Popish  Emissaries  were  every  day  perceived  to  take  for  the  propa- 
gation of  their  peculiar  Tenets,  and  the  many  Establishments  which  they 

15  Smith,  ii.   345  16  ibid,  ii.  330,  343. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        403 

were  making  for  this  Purpose  in  all  the  parts  of  America  belonging  to 
them;  *  *  *  that  from  a  deep  sense  of  these  growing  Evils  the 
two  Seminaries  aforesaid,  distant  about  100  miles  from  each  other,  were 
begun  in  two  of  the  most  important  and  populous  trading  Cities  in  his 
Majesty's  American  Dominion,  nearly  at  the  same  time  and  with  the  same 
view — not  so  much  to  aim  at  any  high  Improvements  in  Knowledge,  as  to 
guard  against  total  Ignorance;  to  instill  into  the  Minds  of  Youth  just  prin- 
ciples of  Religion,  Loyalty  and  Love  of  our  excellent  Constitution,  to 
instruct  them  in  such  branches  of  Knowledge  and  useful  Arts  as  are  neces- 
sary to  Trade,  Agriculture,  and  a  due  improvement  of  his  Majesty1  s  valu- 
able Colonies;  and  to  assist  in  raising  up  a  succession  of  faithful  Instruc- 
tors and  Teachers  to  be  sent  forth  not  only  among  his  Majesty's  subjects 
there  but  also  among  his  Indian  allies,  in  order  to  instruct  both  in  the  way 
of  Truth,  to  save  them  from  the  Corruptions  of  the  Enemy,  and  help  to 
remove  the  Reproach  of  suffering  the  Emissaries  of  a  false  Religion  to  be 
more  zealous  in  propagating  their  Slavish  and  Destructive  Tenets  in  that 
part  of  the  world  than  Britons  and  Protestants  are  in  promoting  the  pure 
form  of  Godliness,  and  the  glorious  plan  of  public  Liberty  and  Happiness 
committed  to  them.  *  *  *  But  as  Designs  of  so  extensive  a  nature 
have  seldom  oeen  completed  (even  in  the  most  wealthy  Kingdoms)  unless 
by  the  united  generosity  of  many  private  Benefactors  and  often  by  the  par- 
ticular Bounty  of  Sovereign  Princes,  the  Petitioners  are  persuaded  it  will 
not  be  thought  strange  that  all  the  Resources  in  the  power  of  individuals  in 
young  Colonies  should  be  found  inadequate  to  such  a  work,  and  that  the 
Governor  and  Trustees  of  the  said  Seminaries  should  have  the  just  appre- 
hension of  seeing  all  that  they  have  raised  for  their  support  speedily 
exhausted  and  an  end  put  to  their  usefulness,  unless  they  can  procure  assist- 
ance from  distant  places,  as  the  expense  of  each  of  them  is  four  hundred 
pounds  sterling  yearly  above  their  Income,  the  defraying  of  which  would 
require  an  additional  Capital  of  about  Six  Thousand  Pounds  sterling  a 
Piece.  *  *  *  That  the  Petitioners  being  accordingly  appointed  to 
sollicit  and  receive  such  assistance,  and  being  sensible  that  the  highest  satis- 
faction which  his  Majesty's  known  piety  and  humanity  can  derive  from  the 
Prosperity  and  Extension  of  his  Dominions  will  be  to  see  these  advantages 
improved  for  enlarging  the  sphere  of  Protestantism,  increasing  the  number 
of  good  Men,  and  bringing  barbarous  Nations  within  the  Pale  of  Religion 
and  Civil  life,  they  are,  therefore  encouraged  humbly  to  pray,  That  his 
Majesty  will  be  pleased  to  direct  that  a  ROYAL  BRIEF  maybe  passed  under 
the  Great  Seal  of  Great  Britain,  authorizing  them  to  make  a  Collection 
throughout  the  Kingdom  from  house  to  house,  for  the  joint  and  equal  ben- 
efit of  the  two  Seminaries,  and  Bodies  corporate  aforesaid. 

And  the  Brief  was,  with  only    the  delay  of  official  formalities, 
issued  on  19  August. 


404        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  recounting  to  the  Trustees  of  these  important  prelimi- 
nary steps  made  them  ready  to  respond  to  Dr.  Smith's  sugges- 
tions that  suitable  acknowledgments  be  made  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Thomas  Penn,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Chandler,  for  their 
zealous  aid  and  influence  on  behalf  of  his  plans.  At  the  meeting 
of  14  December,  Messrs.  Peters,  Stedman,  Chew,  Edward  Shippen 
and  Duche,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  suitable 
addresses,  and  at  the  meeting  of  1 1  January  "the  President  on 
behalf  of  the  Committee  brought  in  the  Draughts  of  the  Addresses 
and  Letters  which  they  were  desired  to  prepare,  and  the  same 
being  read  were  settled."  To  the  Archbishop  they  said  : 

It  gave  us  singular  Pleasure  and  Satisfaction  to  hear  of  the  extraordi- 
nary Countenance  and  Encouragement  which  our  worthy  Provost  met  with 
from  your  Grace,  that  you  not  only  contributed  generously  yourself,  but  that 
it  is  owing  principally  to  your  good  offices  that  our  pious  Design  hath 
attracted  the  regard  of  the  best  of  Kings,  who  hath  been  graciously  pleased 
to  make  the  Charity  more  universal  by  granting  to  us  his  Royal  Brief.  *  *  * 
We  are  willing  to  flatter  ourselves,  that  our  Infant  Institution  will  be  the 
Means,  under  a  wise  and  good  Providence,  of  spreading  the  glorious  light 
of  Gospel  Truth  over  a  considerable  part  of  this  untutored  Continent.  These 
were  our  sincere  and  Christian  motives  at  the  first  erection  of  this  Seminary, 
and  by  these  we  are  still  most  zealously  actuated  in  our  Endeavors  to  sup- 
port and  establish  it  Encouraged  by  your  Grace's  kind  and  condescending 
Regard,  and  ambitious  of  being  patronized  by  a  Prelate  of  such  distin- 
guished Piety,  Learning  and  Knowledge,  we  will  pursue  with  Industry 
unwearied  these  benevolent  Purposes. 

To  the  Rev.  Samuel  Chandler,  D.  D.,  the  eminent  non- 
conformist Divine,  whose  friendship  with  Dr.  Smith  had  begun 
in  his  correspondence  as  Secretary  of  the  Society  founded  in 
London  in  1754  for  the  Education  of  Germans  in  Pennsylvania 
with  him,  they 

manifest  their  Gratitude  for  your  kind  Zeal  and  Influence  in  obtaining  a 
Royal  Brief  to  render  the  Charity  universal  [and  proceeding  in  a  more  catho- 
lic vein  than  to  the  Archbishop  :]  this  Institution  was  founded  upon  the 
most  generous  and  charitable  principles.  Our  views  were  confined  to  no 
particular  Party,  Sect  or  Denomination.  The  advancement  of  Learning,  a 
sincere  and  Christian  regard  for  the  Souls  of  our  Countrymen  together  with 
an  inviolable  attachment  to  that  Religion  and  Liberty  which  we  enjoy  under 
the  best  of  Governments  were  the  Sole  Motives  by  which  we  were  influ- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        405 

enced  in  the  Foundation  of  this  Seminary.  *  *  *  Slavery  and  irreligion 
were  too  frequently  the  offspring  of  Ignorance,  and  that  the  best  and  surest 
preservative  from  both  was  the  good  and  careful  Education  of  our  Youth. 
This  was  the  Plan  upon  which  we  set  out  at  first,  and  we  trust  that  we  have 
ever  since  invariably  adhered  to  it  [To  Thomas  Penn,  they  wrote  grace- 
fully accepting  his  decision  in  regard  to  the  Perkasie  lands  and  conclude  :] 
Dr  Smith  in  all  his  Letters  mentions  the  ready  Assistance  which  you  have 
been  pleased  from  time  to  time  most  cheerfully  to  afford  him.  We  have 
indeed  experienced  repeated  Instances  of  your  paternal  regard  for  our  Semi- 
nary, from  its  very  Foundation.  But  your  kind  Patronage  and  Countenance 
of  our  present  pious  Design,  your  late  exemplary  Contributions,  your  warm 
and  affectionate  Recommendations  of  it  to  persons  of  the  highest  Rank  and 
Fortune  in  the  Kingdom  by  which  you  have  prepared  the  way  for  the  Suc- 
cess with  which  it  has  been  and  is  like  to  be  attended,  together  with  the 
Zeal  and  Influence  which  you  have  exerted  in  obtaining  a  Royal  Brief  in 
order  to  render  the  Charity  universal,  call  for  the  highest  returns  of  Grati- 
tude that  we  can  possibly  make. 

But  meanwhile  the  Provost  was  busy  in  preparations  for  his 
journeyings  in  England,  heralded  by  the  Brief.  This  was  sent  by 
the  instrumentality  of  what  were  known  as  Brief  Layers,  men 
who  were  appointed  attorneys  for  the  purpose  by  Dr.  Smith  and 
Dr.  Jay  to  send  a  duly  stamped  copy  of  the  Brief  to  each  clergy- 
man in  the  Kingdom,  and  as  there  were  eleven  thousand  five 
hundred  of  these  in  the  Kingdom,  even  to  furnish  a  majority  of 
these  with  a  certified  copy  of  the  Brief  was  a  labor  to  the  Brief 
Layers  and  so  much  revenue  to  the  government.1  John  Byrd, 
John  Hall  and  John  Stevenson,  in  the  Borough  of  Strafford,  Gen- 
tlemen, were  on  24  August  appointed  the  Brief  Layers,  who  from 
the  "money  thereon  collected,"  were  to 

deduct  out  of  the  same  the  sum  of  Six  Pence  a  Parish  Chapel  or  meeting 
for  every  Brief  duly  certified  and  endorsed  which  shall  by  them  be  col- 
lected and  received  back  from  all  Places  (except  within  the  city  of  London 
and  weekly  Bills  of  mortality  and  therein  the  sum  of  twelve  Pence,)  as  the 
full  salary  and  charge  for  Laying  down,  collecting  and  receiving  back  the 
said  Briefs. 

On  26  August  Dr.  Smith  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  ask- 
ing his  aid  in  the  Northern  Province  : 

these   things   are   most   honestly  and   dutifully  submitted  to  your  Grace, 
1  Smith,  i.  306. 


406       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

which  I  have  taken  the  Liberty  to  do,  after  having  just  come  from  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  who  was  pleased  to  say  he  would  write  to  your  Grace 
on  this  subject,  and  that  there  might  be  no  Impropriety  in  my  sending  a 
few  Lines  at  the  same  time. 

On  9  September,  Dr.  Smith  and  Dr.  Jay  issued  a  letter  "  To  all 
worthy  and  Reverend  the  Clergy  and  Ministers  of  the  Gospel 
into  whose  hands  his  Majesty's  Royal  Brief,  for  the  Colleges  of 
Philadelphia  and  New  York"  may  come,  affording  them 

such  further  account  of  the  Design  and  Usefulness  of  these  Seminaries,  as 
might  enable  them,  upon  due  information,  to  give  the  People  under  their 
Ministry  that  Encouragement  which  we  are  persuaded  your  Christian  Zeal 
will  induce  you  to  bestow  upon  every  Scheme  for  the  advancement  of 
Religion  and  useful  Knowledge.  *  *  *  You,  Gentlemen,  who  are 
the  Ministers  of  God's  Word,  and  always  foremost  in  every  Design  for  the 
Instruction  of  Mankind,  we  can  well  depend  that  this  so  laudable  an  under- 
taking will  meet  with  your  particular  Countenance  and  assistance.  The 
kind  Providence  of  God  seems  to  have  great  things  in  view,  by  calling 
the  British  Nation  to  the  Possession  of  the  most  important  part  of  America; 
and  the  greatest  of  all  the  Glories  that  can  accrue  to  this  Kingdom  from  a 
Dominion  so  widely  extended,  will  be  to  make  use  of  the  opportunities 
thereby  given  her  for  the  advancement  of  divine  Knowledge,  and  to  be 
found  a  chosen  instrument  in  these  latter  Days  for  calling  New  and  here- 
tofore unexplored  Countries,  to  the  enjoyment  of  everything  that  can  exalt 
Humanity  at  a  time  when  so  many  of  the  old  have  fallen  again  into  their 
original  Barbarity.  *  *  *  What  we  would  in  a  more  especial  manner 
pray  of  you  is,  that,  together  with  your  good  offices  to  make  our  Brief  as 
effectual  as  possible,  in  regard  to  the  pious  purposes  for  which  it  is  granted, 
you  would  likewise  give  it  all  the  despatch  your  convenience  will  admit  of. 
And  we  hope  our  particular  circumstances  will  be  our  plea  for  this  humble 
request,  being  at  three  thousand  miles  distance  from  the  places  of  our 
abode,  and  obliged  at  great  expense  to  our  Constituents,  to  wait  the  issue 
of  this  business. 

This  letter,  the  authorship  of  Dr.  Smith,  is  lengthy,  but  per- 
spicuous. It  recites  the  present  work  of  the  Colleges  :  "  near 
four  hundred  Youths  are  continually  educated  in  them;  of  whom 
about  sixty  are  intended  for  the  learned  Professions,  and,"  here 
is  a  reference  to  the  prevailing  motive  of  all  like  seminaries  at 
the  time  "  particularly  to  furnish  a  Supply  of  Ministers  and 
Teachers  for  the  Different  Societies  of  Christians  in  these  parts." 
And, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        407 

many  excellent  Youths,  who  would  otherwise  have  been  destitute  of  all 
opportunities  of  a  sufficient  Instruction,  are  continually  rendered  useful  in 
both  Provinces  ;  and,  among  those  of  more  enlarged  Circumstances,  a  far 
greater  number  than  ever  was  known  at  any  former  period,  for  acquiring  the 
first  Rudiments  of  learning  there  have  been  induced  and  enabled  to  finish 
their  Education  in  this  Kingdom  at  the  Universities  and  Inns  of  Court. 

Upon  the  outer  leaf  of  the  copy  of  this  letter  which  he  sent 
Dr.  Peters,  he  wrote  these  words  "This  Paper  (which  you  have 
had  a  copy  sent  you  before)  has  been  worth  a  Thousand  Pound  or 
Two,  to  our  Collection.  Nothing  was  ever  better  received  among 
all  Ranks  of  the  clergy."  They  also  united  in  a  letter  of  the 
same  date,  "  To  all  Friends  of  Religion  and  Patrons  of  Useful 
Knowledge,"  which  was  with  some  requisite  modifications  the 
same  Humble  Representation  that  Dr.  Smith  had  put  forth 
shortly  after  his  arrival  and  before  his  concern  in  a  Brief  was  con- 
templated. The  tempting  suggestion  was  made  that  if  their 
friends  now  gave  to  the  two  institutions,  they  would  not  be 
troubled  with  further  solicitation. 

The  Subscribers  were  appointed  to  Solicit  and  receive  the  Benefac- 
tions of  pious  and  well  disposed  Persons  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  for 
the  Use  of  these  Seminaries  ;  and  have  joined  both  Applications  in  One, 
in  order  that,  from  the  Importance  of  the  Objects  Such  persons  may  be 
induced  to  contribute  more  liberally,  without  Fear  of  future  Solicitations 
for  any  Thing  of  the  like  Kind  from  that  Part  of  the  World. 2 

Thus  armed  and  advertised  the  joint  Commissioners  set  off 
from  London  on  29  September,  1762,  Dr.  Smith  hastening 
Northward,  as  far  as  to  Scotland  his  native  land,  and  Dr.  Jay 
going  to  the  West  and  South.  The  Provost  writing  to  the 
Trustees  on  3  January,  1763  :3 

On  that  day,  which  was  as  soon  as  we  could  get  all  the  1 1,  500  Briefs 
signed  and  stamped,  I  set  out  for  Edinburgh  and  from  thence  went  one 
hundred  miles  farther  North  to  see  my  aged  and  good  Father.  As  my 
business  urged,  I  was  obliged  to  do  so  much  violence  to  myself  as  to  stay 
only  a  few  Days  with  him.  This  act  of  Duty  I  hope  the  Trustees  will  no^ 

*  The  printed  endorsement  includes :  "  N.  B. — The  Church  Wardens  are 
requested  to  deliver  this  Rep>  esentation  (together  with  the  Brief)  to  the  Clergy  as 
soon  as  it  comes  to  their  Hand  ;  and  it  is  hoped  they  will  do  everything  else  in  their 
Power  to  forward  this  pious  design." 

s  Minutes,  12  April,  1763. 


408        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

think  was  throwing  away  their  time.  If  they  should,  it  is  the  only  fort- 
night, or  indeed  the  only  moment,  I  have  lost  to  them.  But  it  cannot  well 
be  called  loss.  One  gentleman  in  that  neighborhood,  Sir  Archibald  Grant, 
gave  ten  pounds  sterling  to  the  Design,  and  will  collect  somewhat  more  for 
us.  The  University  of  Aberdeen  also  propose  doing  something.  When 
at  Edinburg  I  waited  on  Dr  Robertson,4  Dr  Wishart,5  Dr  Cuming,6  Dr 
Jordain  and  others.  They  are  well  disposed  to  serve  us,  but  think  their 
Joint  interest,  though  at  the  Head  of  Church  of  Scotland,  will  not  be  able 
next  Assembly  at  least  to  procure  us  a  National  Collection.  *  *  * 
However,  the  Gentlemen  are  to  write  to  me  on  this  Head,  and  readily 
agreed  to  countenance  a  private  Collection,  which  may  produce  almost  as 
much  as  the  public  one.  Provost  Drummond,  who  is  the  most  popular 
Magistrate  they  have  ever  had,  will  give  his  Countenance  to  the  same. 
*  *  *  Dr  Alison  will  not  lose  a  moment  in  procuring  Letters  for  the 
Scots  Clergy  whether  we  apply  publicly  or  privately,  and  let  them  be  here 
in  April  with  your  Instructions.  *  *  *  At  Glasgow  I  found  the  same 
Encouragement  as  at  Edinburgh  among  the  clergy,  who  professed  them- 
selves pleased  with  the  Catholic  plan  of  having  Professors  of  different 
Persuasions  and  told  me  that  the  Party  in  the  Church  of  Scotland  to  whom 
that  would  be  an  objection  were  not  many.  But  I  could  not  stay  to 
make  any  particular  Collection  either  here  or  at  Edinburg — only  prepared 
matters.  My  being  detained  so  long  at  London  before  I  could  set  out  for 
the  North  and  being  obliged  to  be  at  Oxford  in  November  hampered  me 
much  in  time.  *  *  *  On  my  return,  I  visited  all  the  principal  clergy 
in  the  Towns  on  or  near  the  Great  Road,  and  wrote  Letters  to  others.  In 
places  where  it  was  thought  my  presence  would  assist  the  Collections,  we 
agreed  to  delay  it  till  March,  when  I  promised  to  go  down  again,  especially 
to  Yorkshire.  *  *  *  Thus  in  about  six  weeks  from  my  setting  out  I 
got  back  to  London  to  meet  Dr  Jay,  who  had  taken  a  like  Tour  Southward 
on  the  same  Plan.  *  *  After  two  or  three  days'  stay  in  London,  we  set 
out  again  for  Oxford,  thinking  it  a  compliment  due  to  them  to  be  both 
there.  From  Oxford  we  went  to  Gloucester,  and  to  the  Manufacturing 
Towns  in  that  County,  Dr  Jay  taking  part  of  them  and  myself  the  other 
Part,  so  as  to  meet  at  Bath,  which  we  did  a  day  before  Christmas,  and  then 
proceeded  to  London  where  the  Briefs  are  now  to  be  read  in  those  full 
months  January  and  February.  Bristol  we  have  delayed  to  the  end  of 
February  and  Bath  afterwards.  Dr  Jay  will  go  thither,  while  I  go  to"  the 
North  in  March.  *  *  *  We  now  find  before  us  near  forty  Letters 
unanswered,  and  a  continual  attendance  on  the  clergy  of  London  neces- 


4  The  Historian,  who  in  this  year  was  elected  Principal  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh. 

5  Rev.  George  Wishart. 

6  Rev.  Patrick  Cuming. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       409 

sary  ;  every  one  of  whom,  being  near  two  hundred  we  must  see  within  this 
fortnight,  and  before  they  can  read  the  Brief,  which  we  are  to  give  them 
with  our  own  hand.  Many  principal  People  are  also  to  be  waited  on  before 
the  Brief  is  read  in  their  particular  Parish  because  we  hope  they  will  give 
more  to  one  of  ourselves  than  to  a  Brief,  which  some  Persons  have 
resolved  never  to  contribute  to  on  account  of  Abuses  which  they  conceive 
are  committed  by  the  Brief  Layers.  *  *  *  From  the  above  account 
you  will  see  that  neither  our  plan,  nor  our  time  would  permit  us  to  collect 
much  Money,  yet  we  have  not  been  unsuccessful  even  in  this  respect 

And  the  Provost  submits  an  account  showing  that  Dr.  Jay 
had  collected  from  their  parting  to  their  meeting  again  on  20 
November,  .£121.12.6;  Dr.  Smith,  in  the  same  period  had 
collected  .£187.6.0.  At  the  University  of  Oxford  they  had 
jointly  collected  £\ 6 1.18.0,  and  in  the  same  manner  at  Glou- 
cester, £35.10.0.  Dr.  Smith  collected  "  among  the  clothiers  at 
Stroud,  where  he  preached  and  had  the  Brief  read  "  £49.11.6, 
and  at  "  Uiey,  Dursley,  and  Weston  Underedge,  other  cloathing 
towns,  independent  of  the  Brief"  £65.6.6.  And  Dr.  Jay  at 
Hamton,  Tetbury  and  Pains  wick,  collected  .£33.4.6. 

The  Brief  was  read  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  on  Sunday,  6 
March,  1763,  and  a  sermon  preached  by  Dr.  John  Brown,  Vicar 
of  St.  Nicholas',  New  Castle,  on  Religious  Liberty,  whose 

greatest  and  most  extensive  effect,  joined  with  true  Christian  Zeal,  would 
be  a  free  and  powerful  Communication  of  the  Glad  Tidings  of  the  Gospel 
to  those  many  and  distant  Nations  who  as  yet  sit  in  Darkness  and  the 
Shadow  of  Death  ;  a  duty  which  I  should  at  all  times  be  glad  to  Recom- 
mend, but  particularly  when  we  are  entering  on  a  Peace,  which  throws  into 
our  Hands  immense  savage  Nations,  as  the  greatest  object  of  civilization  ; 
and  more  especially  at  a  Time  when  a  laudable  Brief  is  on  Foot  (and  on 
this  day  read  in  many  of  the  Churches  of  this  great  city)  which  calls  on 
every  Christian  to  contribute  his  share  to  the  success  of  this  important 
work.  ~ 


1  A  copy  of  this  Sermon,  "  published  at  the  Request  of  the  Managers  of  the 
Charity,"  is  with  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.  Dr.  Brown  was  a  well- 
known  writer  of  his  day;  his  Essays  on  Shaftesbury's  Characteristics,  London, 
1751,  which  were  suggested  to  him  by  Warburton,  and  to  Warburton  by  Pope, 
reached  a  fifth  edition  in  1764.  The  work  which  earned  him  the  greatest  reputa- 
tion was  •'  An  Estimate  of  the  Manners  and  Principles  of  the  Times,"  London, 
1757,  and  which  reached  seven  editions  in  a  little  more  than  a  twelvemonth. — 
Allibone. 


4io       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  the  letter  of  the  Trustees  to  Dr.  Smith  of  27  May, 
1763,  "  they  think  themselves  particularly  obliged  to  Dr.  Brown 
for  his  most  excellent  Sermon." 

Dr.  Smith  was  favored  with  the  company  of  one  of  his 
first  graduates,  Dr.  Morgan,  and  one  of  the  Trustees,  Mr.  Inglis. 
In  his  letter  already  quoted  from,  he  says  "  Dr.  Morgan  is  now 
collecting  somewhat  occasionally  for  us  and  Mr.  Inglis  will  join 
him."  In  their  letter  of  27  May,  1763,  the  Trustees  say  to 
him  : 

Mr  Inglis  and  Dr  Morgan  will  be  able  to  advise  you  whether  it  is 
best  to  proceed  now  to  ask  private  charities,  or  to  stay  as  you  think  it 
would  be  better,  till  some  time  hence.  Whatever  you  do,  Mr  Elliot  can 
be  of  great  assistance,  and  will  we  doubt  not  cheerfully  give  it,  and  furnish 
all  necessary  Letters  and  Recommendations  from  his  Relatives  who  are 
numerous  and  have  great  Interest. 

A  subsequent  letter  from  the  Provost  asked  the  attention 
of  the  Trustees  to  the  importance  of  offering  their  thanks  to 
King  George  and  to  Lord  Bute  for  their  countenance  and 
assistance.  King's  College  had  early  in  the  matter  made  its 
loyal  Address  to  the  King,  and  later  its  loyal  congratulations 
on  the  birth  of  the  Prince,  and  Dr.  Smith  knowing  the  salutary 
effect  of  such  procedure,  took  his  Trustees  to  task  for  their 
thoughtlessness  on  this  head  ;  doubtless  he  took  it  amiss  on  his 
own  part  that  provision  had  not  already  been  made  for  this. 
The  Knighting  of  Dr.  Jay  at  this  time  because  he  was  the 
bearer  of  the  Address  of  King's  College,  was  an  acute  reminder 
to  him  of  the  seeming  neglect  of  the  Trustees.  "  I  know  not 
how  it  is,"  he  writes  them,8 

that  our  College,  as  a  body,  is  so  diffident  and  apt  on  the  first  motion  to 
beat  down  any  proposal  that  has  anything  great  in  it  It  was  thought 
once  that  we  were  too  little  an  object  for  national  notice  here.  Time  and 
a  fair  trial  have  taught  us  better  on  this  head.  Had  I  at  first  desired  an 
Address  from  the  Trustees  to  the  King,  I  think  it  would  not  have  been 
granted.  Yet  a  College  of  less  note  set  out  with  such  an  Address.  Public 
bodies  should  have  no  shame  of  this  sort ;  I  speak  not  this  to  blame 
what  is  past,  but  rather  to  persuade  you  to  lift  up  your  heads  and  rather 
fail  in  great  attempts  than  be  found  too  diffident. 

8  Smith,  i.  320. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        411 

This  letter  with  others  was  read  to  them  on  10  May,  1763, 
but  a  copy  does  not  appear  in  the  minutes,  and  a  special  Meet- 
ing was  held  on  27  May  to  consider  the  addresses  framed  on  his 
suggestions.  The  warmth  of  loyalty  expressed  in  the  one  to 
the  King  may  have  compensated  for  their  tardiness. 

Amid  the  joyous  Acclamations  of  a  grateful  People,  exulting  in  a 
Happiness  derived  from  your  Majesty's  wise,  just  and  gentle  Administra- 
tion, we,  your  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  Subjects  beg  leave  to  lay 
our  sincere  and  humble  acknowledgments  at  Your  Majesty's  Feet  and  to 
express  the  deep  sense  we  entertain  of  your  Royal  Condescending  Regard 
to  the  Institution  under  our  Government  and  Direction.  *  *  *  Situ- 
ated as  we  are  in  the  centre  of  a  Territory,  which  has  long  been  the  Theatre 
of  Desolation  and  Bloodshed,  we  cannot  but  feel  a  large  share  of  that 
general  joy  which  is  now  diffused  through  your  Majesty's  American 
Dominions,  upon  the  conclusion  of  a  Peace  so  honourable  to  our  Nation, 
so  peculiarly  beneficial  to  us.  By  this  illustrious  Event,  we  are  prompted 
not  only  to  look  with  Astonishment  upon  your  Majesty,  as  a  Conqueror 
triumphing  over  your  Enemies,  and  giving  Strength  and  Increase  to  your 
Subjects  and  Dominions,  but  to  revere  you  as  a  blessed  instrument,  in  the 
hands  of  Providence,  of  planting  at  once  the  Christian  and  the  British 
Banners,  the  Banners  of  Liberty  and  true  Religion  in  these  remotest 
corners  of  the  Western  World.  *  *  *  To  conquer  and  to  civilise  has 
hitherto  been  deemed  the  highest  Effort  of  human  Heroism.  But  to  com- 
pleat  the  Glory  of  your  Majesty's  Reign,  Heaven  seems  to  have  reserved 
it  for  your  Majesty  not  to  conquer  and  civilize  only,  but,  by  spreading 
throughout  your  wide  extended  conquests  the  Knowledge  of  Christ's 
Kingdom,  even  to  bless  Millions  of  Mankind  with  the  comforts  of  true 
Religion,  and  the  Gospel  means  of  Salvation. 

Could  the  phraseology  of  the  concluding  paragraph  have 
been  one  of  the  counts  of  the  Indictment  of  1779? 

It  shall  be  our  earnest  Endeavor,  as  far  as  our  Influence  extends, 
carefully  to  provide  that  the  Principles  of  true  Religion,  good  govern- 
ment, and  useful  learning,  together  with  a  love  and  Veneration  for  the 
British  Constitution,  and  an  unshaken  Loyalty  and  Affection  to  your 
Majesty' s  Person  and  your  illustrious  House,  be  constantlyinculcated  in 
the  Minds  of  the  Youth  placed  under  our  Instruction. 

To  Lord  Bute,  they  "  beg  leave  to  return  your  Lordship 
our  most  sincere  Thanks  and  Acknowledgments  for  the  Chear- 
fulness  and  Condescension  with  which  you  have  been  pleased 


412        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

to  promote  the  Interest  of   the  Seminary  under  our  Inspection 
and  Government." 

Dr.  Smith,  on  5  August,  was  taken  by  Mr.  Penn  to  an 
audience  with  the  King  in  order  to  present  this  Address.  Mr. 
Inglis,  as  a  Trustee,  and  Mr.  Powel,  an  alumnus,  accompanied 
them.  The  King  was  gracious  and  asked  several  questions 
about  the  College.  '  In  one  of  his  letters  he  says  : 

He  almost  got  Mr  Powel  knighted,  but  thought  it  would  be  idle,  and 
be  considered  as  a  design  to  separate  him  from  his  old  friends,  the 
Quakers  at  home  ;  a  thought  which  he  would  scorn  in  regard  to  any  of  his 
Pupils.  He  did  not  know  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  Mr.  Powel, 
and  therefore  gave  it  to  be  understood  that  he  desired  no  honours,  but 
only  to  testify  gratitude.  9 

As  Dr.  Jay  had  been  Knighted  in  the  previous  April  on 
presenting  the  Address  of  King's  College,  it  was  reasonable  for 
Dr.  Smith  to  hope  the  like  honor  for  his  lay  companion  at  this 
scene. 

In  later  letters  Dr.  Smith  continues  his  narrative.  On  24 
April,  1763,  he  acknowledges  from  London  the  receipt  of  the 
"  Addresses  of  the  Trustees  to  the  Archbishop,  Mr.  Penn,  and 
Dr.  Chandler,"  which  "  were  delivered  and  kindly  received," 
and  he  proceeds  : 

I  shall  leave  this  place  by  the  I2th  of  May  at  farthest  having  kept 
back  the  Collection  at  York,  Liverpool,  and  some  other  considerable  towns. 
From  thence  I  shall  cross  over  to  Ireland  and  try  to  get  away  for  America 
by  1st  September,  for  I  will  by  no  means  take  a  winter  passage.  The 
Trustees  ^may  depend  that  I  shall  leave  nothing  undone  that  requires 
my  presence  and  shall  rather  stay  another  winter,  how  irk- 
some and  inconvenient  soever  than  desert  the  good  cause  which  I 
have  carried  on  so  far  with  success.  *  *  *  At  present  our  Col- 
lection goes  on  well  in  the  several  parishes  of  this  city  and  I  take  the 
usual  pains  to  get  proper  Preachers.  In  a  most  divided  kingdom,  by  a 
happy  Fate,  the  leaders  of  all  sides  have  been  induced  to  contribute. 
We  have  in  our  list  the  names  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Lord  Bute, 
and  Mr  Pitt  ;  and  both  Universities  have  been  liberal.  From  Lady 
Curzon,  who  happened  to  be  one  of  my  audience  when  I  preached  at 
Curzon  Street  Chapel  (commonly  called  Mayfair  Chapel),  I  received  one 
Hundred  pounds.  My  friend  Mr  Dawkins  readily  gave  fifty  pounds  and 

9  Smith,  i.  322. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        413 

Col.  Barre  has  been  kind    in  introducing  me  to  sundry  persons.     But  you 
must  not  think  that  all  this  produces  very  great  Sums. 

And  he  then  proceeds  to  portray  a  curious  picture  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  his  plans  were  pursued. 

We  are  by  the  Brief  entirely  prevented  from  applying  to  the  middling 
rank  of  people,  for  if  we  were  to  go  to  them  (which  indeed  is  hardly  pos- 
sible in  any  large  Degree)  none  of  the  Parish  Ministers  would  be  at  the  pains 
to  carry  round  the  Brief,  and  then  as  to  People  of  Fortune  who  can  afford 
something  extraordinary,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  at  them,  or  to  get 
anything  from  them  but  by  a  particular  interest,  they  are  so  harassed  with 
an  infinity  of  Charities;  and  then  when  they  are  disposed  to  give  you  must 
call  twenty  times  perhaps  before  the  matter  is  finished,  so  that  you  see  the 
Brief  must  greatly  interfere  with  all  our  private  attempts  to  collect,  not 
only  as  barring  our  applications  to  all  that  set  of  people  who  could  be  most 
readily  got  at,  but  likewise  furnishing  others  with  an  excuse  to  put  us  off 
by  saying  they  have  given  or  will  give  to  the  Brief.  *  *  *  On  sum- 
ming up  my  Book  I  find  that  including  Mr  Penn's  Benefaction  I  have  ^1700 
to  the  credit  of  our  College  without  the  Brief  Money  our  share  of  which 
will  certainly  amount  to  as  much  more.  *  *  *  On  Wednesday  next 
we  are  to  have  a  Benefit  oratorio  at  Drury  Lane  and  Mr  Beard  leaves  his 
own  House  to  perform  for  us  at  the  other,  and  will  give  a  benefit  himself 
next  winter,  but  could  not  do  it  now  on  account  of  a  Week  lost  to  him  by  the 
late  riots  at  his  house,  viz:  Covent  Garden.  Mr  Garrick  has  been  exceed- 
ingly kind  in  the  matter  and  gave  his  house  at  first  asking  and  was  sorry 
that  the  season  was  so  far  advanced  and  that  he  had  no  night  disengaged 
sooner.  The  principal  performers,  vocal  and  instrumental,  serve  Gratis  and 
we  are  favoured  by  the  Boys  from  the  Chapel  Royal,  and  every  other  mark 
of  Distinction.  Mr  Tyers  even  put  off  the  opening  of  Vaux  Hall,  which  was 
fixed  on  Wednesday  next  in  order  to  favour  us.  But  after  all  the  season 
is  so  far  advanced  and  so  warm  that  we  doubt  it  will  turn  out  to  no  great 
advantage.  If  the  house  fill  it  may  be  .£200.  If  not,  the  expense  will  be 
certainly  cleared.  And  as  Dr  Brown  kept  his  performance  for  this  purpose 
agreeable  to  a  promise  given  me  at  Newcastle  we  could  not  refuse  it,  at  the 
time  we  could  get  it  on.  I  enclose  you  a  copy  of  this  performance  as  also 
Dr  Brown' s  Sermon,  with  one  by  Mr  Watson  on  account  of  our  Brief ;  so  that 
you  see  we  begin  to  be  taken  notice  of.  There  has  been  many  a  good 
Sermon  on  this  subject,  which  the  Circular  Letter  sent  with  the  Brief  con- 
tributed much  to  produce.  And  indeed  I  rejoice  more  in  having  been  the 
writer  of  that  letter  than  anything  I  ever  wrote,  it  has  been  so  well 
received. 

The  postscript  to  this  letter  contains  the  germ   of  a  future 
controversy. 


414        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

You  will  observe  that  this  Collection  was  solicited  and  given  to  raise 
a  Capital  and  that  the  Bishops  and  commissioners  in  the  Brief  have  desired 
Mr  Penn's  assurance  as  well  as  mine  that  it  shall  be  properly  laid  out  as 
such  for  the  Payment  of  Salaries,  a  thing  we  had  no  difficulty  to  promise, 
knowing  it  to  be  the  full  intention  of  the  Trustees,  for  should  we  spend  this 
we  could  not  beg  a  second  time. 

We  cannot  follow  Dr.  Smith's  steps  through  his  busy 
wanderings  in  pursuit  of  his  collections;  we  would  find  in  them  a 
most  interesting  itinerary,  and  would  be  afforded  a  clear  picture 
of  the  customs  prevailing  in  such  cases.  Nothing  was  left 
undone  by  him  in  his  zeal  for  the  furtherance  of  his  mission  ; 
untiring  in  journeyings,  in  visits,  in  solicitations,  in  correspond- 
ence, his  energies  did  not  seem  to  flag. 

On  1 2  September  he  writes  : 

Jay  and  I  are  just  setting  out  from  the  New  York  Coffee  House  and 
hope  to  be  at  Holyhead  as  soon  as  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  and  at  Dublin  by 
Saturday  night  But  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  stay  more  than  three  or 
four  weeks  in  Ireland,  for  we  are  told  that  in  the  present  situation  of  that 
Kingdom,  we  can  hope  for  little  but  in  Dublin,  Cork,  and  Deny. 

But  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Dublin  he  was  taken 
ill,  and  the  anxieties  of  his  friends  were  great  lest  he 
should  not  recover ;  here  he  was  detained  in  enforced 
idleness  for  many  weeks  ;  but  in  convalescence  he  measur- 
ably resumed  his  activities,  and  sought  the  society  of  the 
learned  in  Dublin  and  those  influential  in  the  work  of  educa- 
tion. Trinity  College  bestowed  a  Doctorate  upon  him,  his 
diploma  bearing  date  9  January,  1764.  He  was  detained  here 
until  28  January,  when  he  returned  to  England,  proceeding  to 
Stoke,  the  seat  of  the  Penns,  where  he  remained  under  the  kind 
care  of  Mr.  Penn  and  his  wife  for  a  fortnight,  and  reached  Lon- 
don in  the  first  week  of  February. 

He  wrote  to  the  Trustees  on  n  February,  1764,  a  few 
days  after  his  arrival  there,  an  account  of  his 

most  dangerous  situation  in  Dublin,  having  been  ten  weeks  confined  to  Bed 
of  Fever  both  Bilious  and  Nervous  which  from  the  beginning  had  very  bad 
symptoms,  and  for  some  time  brought  me  to  a  State  in  which  no  hopes  were 
entertained  of  a  possibility  of  recovery.  Sir  James  Jay  attended  me  at 
first,  but  soon  declared  the  matter  to  be  too  serious  for  him  to  take  the  whole 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       415 

on  himself;  and  Dr.  Dawson,  our  proprietor' s  Brother  in  law  concurring  in 
this,  Dr.  Barry  a  Man  of  the  first  note  in  Dublin,  Physician  general  to  the 
Army  and  Professor  of  Physick  in  the  University,  was  called,  who  paid  me 
near  four  score  of  visits  with  such  care  and  tenderness  as  I  shall  never 
forget.  *  *  *  Happy  was  it  that  I  was  taken  ill  in  a  large  city,  and 
where  I  could  have  such  help.  *  *  *  It  was  long  hanging  about  me 
before  I  was  taken  down,  and  Dr.  Barry  said  it  had  been  brought  on  by  too 
much  anxiety  and  fatigue.  It  is  not  my  Temper  to  boast  of  services  or  value 
myself  thereby;  I  would  rather  be  more  humble  on  that  Account,  knowing 
that  Posterity  will  always  do  justice  if  the  present  times  were  wanting.  We 
have  indeed  had  surprising  success;  but  there  have  been  so  many  happy 
turns  in  it,  when  to  all  appearances  difficulties  were  insuperable,  that  a 
kind  providence  seems  to  have  been  with  us,  and  I  can  claim  no  more  than 
doing  my  duty  and  attentively  striving  to  make  the  most  of  every  Incident 
as  it  happened.  *  *  *  Except  by  my  sickness,  I  can  in  truth  say,  I 
have  never  lost  a  day  to  our  Business  nor  thought  of  anything  else;  but 
so  much  traveling  on  Horseback,  different  diet  and  cookery,  different  Beds, 
different  drink,  and  being  obliged  to  eat  and  drink  often  especially  at 
night,  when  I  had  no  want  of  either,  contributed  to  bring  that  most  invet- 
erate and  obstinate  disorder  on  me;  and  yet  it  was  not  in  my  power,  in 
justice  to  our  cause,  to  refuse  the  invitations  given  me  and  the  Hospitality 
of  our  Benefactors.  *  *  *  But  God  has  been  pleased  to  preserve  me 
not  only  thro'  that  danger,  but  also  the  danger  of  a  most  tempestuous  pas- 
sage, being  in  the  beginning  of  the  same  storm  that  has  done  so  much 
damage  in  the  channel  and  frightened  the  Nation  on  account  of  the  Prince 
and  Princess  of  Brunswick,  who  are  at  last  got  safe  to  Holland.  I  waited 
near  ten  days  at  Dublin  on  account  of  the  weather  at  Dublin  and  embarked 
on  a  most  flattering  evening  with  a  fair  Gale,  but  the  scene  was  soon 
changed.  However,  next  day  about  ten  in  the  morning  and  with  much 
difficulty,  we  got  in. 

One  of  the  last  letters  to  the  Trustees  written  by  him  prior 
to  his  illness,  already  quoted  from,  again  enlarged  upon  the 
necessity  of  capitalising  the  collections  made  under  the  Brief, 
for  a  minute  is  made  at  their  meeting  of  8  November,  namely  : 

Several  letters  received  from  Dr.  Smith  were  read  the  substance  of 
all  which  was  contained  in  one  of  12  September,  and  as  it  appeared  by 
these  Letters  that  the  Commissioners  under  the  Royal  Brief  required  some 
Assurances  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  that  the  Money  collected 
should  be  laid  out  on  Land  security  and  presented  as  a  perpetual  Fund  for 
the  College,  the  President  was  desired  to  write  the  necessary  Letters  and 
to  consult  with  Mr  Chew  and  Mr  Shippen  thereupon.  [Dr  Smith  had 
said,]  when  you  draw,  it  is  expected  that  you  will  enable  me  to  satisfy  the 


416        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Commissioners  how  you  are  laying  out  the  Money  and  on  what  securities 
and  that  it  will  be  preserved  as  a  Capital.  I  have  often  been  interrogated 
on  these  Heads  and  if  Mr  Penn  had  not  kindly  promised  for  you  in  all 
these  points,  we  should  not  have  got  our  Money  so  fast  into  our  hands. 
These  questions  you  will  not  think  impertinent  from  Men  of  high  rank 
whoce  countenance  has  procured  us  this  great  collection  and  whom  the 
King  has  made  Trustees  in  the  appropriation  of  the  Money  to  the  uses  for 
which  it  was  given,  viz:  as  a  Capital  towards  bringing  us  .£400  per  annum, 
as  the  Brief  of  my  commission  sets  forth.  This  you  will  not  think  any 
hard  request.  Mr  Penn,  Mr  Allen,  and  every  body  think  we  are  bound  to 
keep  it  as  a  Capital  and  ought  to  do  it  even  if  we  had  not  asked  for  it  as 
such.  I  have  wrote  you  often  on  this  head,  and  I  wonder  you  have  not 
enabled  me  to  say  what  is  proper  on  your  behalf.  I  have  a  difficult  part  to 
act  between  you  and  those  under  whom  I  act  here.  They  desire  to  inter- 
meddle no  further,  than  to  be  ascertained  how  the  money  here  committed 
to  them,  is  laid  out  with  you,  and  that  it  will  be  made  a  lasting  Capital. 
They  would  scorn,  even  if  they  could,  to  abridge  us  of  one  single  right 
which  we  hold  under  our  Charter,  and  after  the  Money  is  remitted,  and 
they  assured  that  it  is  laid  out  to  its  true  uses,  they  will  perhaps  never 
inquire  more  after  us.  For  my  part,  whatever  silly  Notions  may  enter 
jealous  minds,  I  would  sooner  have  come  to  you  without  a  shilling  than 
have  been  subjected  to  any  terms  inconsistent  with  our  present  liberal 
plan.  You  may  see  this  by  my  anxiety  to  remit  such  large  sums,  without 
a  single  condition,  but  enabling  us  to  shew  the  Commissioners  of  the  Brief 
and  the  good  people  of  England  that  their  cash  is  faithfully  remitted  and 
on  undoubted  security  (which  I  presume  must  be  land  security)  to  answer 
the  purposes  for  which  we  are  entrusted  with  it. 

There  were  reasons,  undoubtedly,  for  this  urgency,  which 
we  cannot  now  fathom  ;  whether  the  desires  of  the  Trustees 
to  realize  on  the  Perkasie  gift  of  Mr.  Penn  had  led  him  to  doubt 
their  wisdom  while  at  the  same  time  he  was  wanting  in  confi- 
dence as  to  the  stability  of  their  purposes,  we  cannot  say.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Smith's  visit  was  the  wish  to 
complete  their  new  buildings,  though  its  cause  lay  deeper  than 
that,  namely,  in  the  annually  diminishing  resources  of  the  insti- 
tution. An  echo  of  this  distrust  may  have  found  lodgment  in 
Dr.  Smith's  mind  as  well,  as  Dr.  Franklin  was  now  at  home, 
and  his  influence  might  be  again  felt  among  the  Trustees  and 
some  scheme  might  be  formulated  foreign  to  his  own  views  of 
the  government  of  the  College.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       417 

force  of  this  urgency  among  the  contributors  generally,  it  will 
be  found  in  the  sequel  that  the  only  official  request  made  of  the 
Trustees  by  their  friends  the  Commissioners  was  an  assurance 
that  the  institution  should  forever  be  carried  on  in  the  same 
"liberal  plan  "  as  it  had  been  framed  in. 

Dr.  Peters,  on  behalf  of  the  Trustees,  responded  to  this 
warm  appeal  of  Dr.  Smith  with  a  degree  of  spirit  which  testified 
to  their  sense  of  being  misapprehended  if  not  mistrusted,  and 
wrote  him  12  November,  1763  : 

The  Trustees  conceived  that  the  assurances  they  gave  the  publick  in 
your  commission  under  their  Seal,  '  that  whatever  should  be  contributed  to 
the  good  end  therein  set  forth  should  be  faithfully  applied  upon  the  same 
liberal  and  pious  plan  wherein  the  College  was  first  founded  '  would  have 
satisfied  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  King,  so  that  they  might 
safely  pay  to  you  the  Money  collected  to  be  remitted  to  us;  otherwise  we 
would  have  given  you  before  this  fresh  assurances  and  as  strong  as  could 
be  made.  But  as  you  inform  us  that  further  assurances  are  expected,  I 
am  now  requested  and  authorized  by  the  Trustees  to  let  you  know  that  all 
the  money  drawn  for  which  is  ^1500  sterling  was  forthwith  let  out  upon  an 
interest  of  6  p  ct  on  a  double  security,  that  is,  on  a  Mortgage  of  Lands 
accompanied  with  a  Bond  and  Judgment  from  the  Mortgagor  which  is  the 
very  best  security  that  can  be  devised,  being  the  same  that  the  Trustees  of 
the  General  Loan  Office  of  this  province  take  for  the  monies  lent  by  them 
to  private  Borrowers,  and  that  the  same  method  will  be  observed  punctually 
and  faithfully  with  respect  to  every  sum  that  shall  come  into  their  hands 
out  of  the  Monies  collected  and  paid  to  you  for  the  use  of  their  College. 
*  *  *  Lest  you  should  be  absent  or  set  out  for  America,  I  have  said 
as  much  as  this  in  my  Letters  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  to 
Mr  Penn,  and  as  the  latter  has  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Trustees,  their 
characters  and  their  whole  Conduct  in  the  Management  of  their  Trust,  we 
hope  there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  ordering  the  payment  of  the  monies 
collected  to  be  made  to  you. 10 


10  When  just  prior  to  Dr.  Smith's  leaving  England  on  his  return  home,  five  of 
the  Commissioners  under  the  Brief,  namely  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and 
York,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Dr.  Chandler,  and  Thomas  Penn,  gave  Dr.  Smith 
their  power  of  attorney  dated  13  April,  1764,  "to  see  and  take  care  in  conjunction 
with  the  Trustees,  that  the  share  of  the  Collection  that  has  arisen  or  may  arise  to  the 
same  be  laid  out  upon  sufficient  security ;  and  preserved  as  a  Capital  to  produce 
an  Annual  Revenue  for  the  Benefit  of  the  said  Seminary  agreeable  to  the  meaning 
of  the  said  Letters  Patent  and  our  express  Intention  in  this  our  Letter  of  Attorney 
declared" — And  requiring  him  "to  transmit  them  an  account  properly  vouched  and 
certified  of  the  manner  in  which  the  whole  monies  *  *  *  *  is  disposed  or 
laid  out  *  *  with  an  account  of  the  Securities  taken  and  the  amount  of  the 
annual  Revenue  which  the  monies  so  laid  out  may  produce." 


418        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

In  his  letter  of  1 1  February,  1764,  the  Provost  gave  a  brief 
summary  of  the  results  of  the  collection. 

I  can  now  assure  you  that  our  share  (including  the  Proprietors  ^500) 
will  amount  to  Six  thousand  pounds  nearly  and  clear  of  all  expenses. 
This  tells  well  and  will  be  a  noble  sum  in  your  Currency.  But  you  will 
not  let  your  Draughts  from  the  beginning  exceed  four  thousand  pounds, 
till  I  see  you  or  send  further  advice,  for  I  must  return  to  Stratford  before  I 
embark  and  one  of  the  last  things  I  do.  There  are  9600!  Briefs  come  in 
and  1500  not  come  in,  but  the  greatest  part  will  be  ready  by  the  ist  March 
and  then  I  go  to  make  a  settlement  with  them.  *  *  *  I  begin  next 
week  to  publish  a  List  of  the  Whole  Collection  that  every  Contributor  may 
see  the  exactness  of  the  Account  *  *  *  I  find  the  Dissenters  have  not 
contributed  so  much  as  I  hoped  ;  but  many  others  have  far  exceeded  all 
hopes .  The  Quakers  have  returned  all  their  Briefs  blank.  But  I  do  not 
find  that  they  have  tried  much  to  dissuade  others  from  giving,  and  so  far 
we  are  obliged  to  them. 

His  last  letter,  dated  10  March,  is  submitted  to  the  Trustees 
at  their  Meeting  of  8  May. 

Since  I  came  to  London  from  Ireland,  I  began  to  recover  my  usual 
strength,  have  preached  on  the  Brief  in  three  Capital  Churches  where  it 
had  been  delayed  for  that  purpose,  viz  :  St.  Mary,  White  Chapel,  St. 
George  the  Martyr,  and  Lambeth  Church  ;  I  have  made  great  Collections 
in  the  Parishes  belonging  to  them,  and  do  not  doubt  if  I  could  stay  a 
Month  or  two  longer  I  might  add  at  least  a  thousand  Pounds  more  to  the 
Collection,  as  I  have  raised  near  one  hundred  Pounds  one  Week  with 
another  since  my  return  to  London,  part  of  which  was  on  the  Brief,  and 
Part  in  private  Collections.  But  I  am  determined  to  embark  for  Philadel- 
phia the  end  of  March,  as  I  am  thoroughly  tired  out,  and  long  earnestly 
to  be  with  my  Family,  and  Mr  Peters  is  urgent  for  my  return  that  he  himself 
might  embark  for  Liverpool  to  see  his  Relatives.  There  are  only  about 
seven  or  eight  parishes  now  in  London,  wrhere  the  Brief  has  not  been 
collected,  and  I  have  engaged  some  of  my  friends  to  preach  in  them,  and 
to  give  all  possible  attention  to  the  Collection. 

That  his  work  had  been  well  done  and  his  labors  constant 
are  testified  to  by  the  results  already  portrayed,  and  there  needs  not 
the  confirmation  of  his  English  supporters.  Thomas  Penn  writes 
him,  9  April,  1764,  "  the  great  zeal  with  which  you  have  sol- 
licited  the  Contributions  for  the  Benefit  of  the  College  of  Phila- 
delphia must  entitle  you  to  the  Regard  and  Esteem  of  every 
Person  that  wishes  well  to  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,"  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        419 

assuring  him  of  his  friendship  on  all  occasions,  asks  him  to  accept 
as  a  Token  his  Draft  on  his  Banker  for  fifty  pounds.  In  his  prompt 
acknowledgment  of  the  Proprietary's  substantial  remembrance, 
he  covers  also  his  allegiance  to  the  Proprietary  interests  in  his 
far-off  home  : 

please  to  accept  my  assurances,  that  so  far  as  my  Judgment  or  Abilities  can 
carry  me,  you  shall  ever  find  me,  in  all  Prudence,  earnest  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  the  Country  with  which  you  are  so  closely  connected,  and 
which  I  know  you  and  your  Family  will  always  consider  as  inseparable 
from  your  own  interests. 

Archbishop  Seeker  writes  to  Dr.  Peters  on  13  April : 

I  cannot  let  Dr  Smith  go  without  sending  you  a  line  by  him.  Provi- 
dence has  blessed  our  Endeavors  here,  for  the  Benefit  of  his  College,  much 
beyond  my  expectation.  And  indeed  his  Abilities  and  Diligence  have 
been  the  chief  Instruments  of  the  Success.  Dissenters  have  contributed 
laudably  ;  but  the  Members  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  particularly 
the  Clergy,  have  been  proportionately  more  liberal.  Doubtless  they  were 
induced  to  it  by  the  Allegation  in  the  Brief,  that  this  Seminary,  and  that  of 
New  York,  would  be  extremely  useful  in  educating  Missionaries  to  serve 
the  Society  for  propagating  the  Gospel.  And  therefore  I  hope  the  Trustees 
of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  will  be  careful  to  make  Provision,  that  all 
such  as  are  designed  for  Clergymen  of  our  Church  shall  be  instructed  by  a 
Professor  of  Divinity  who  is  a  Member  of  our  Church  ;  which  may  surely 
be  done  without  giving  any  offense  to  Persons  of  other  Denominations  ;  a 
Fault  that  by  all  means  should  be  studiously  avoided  ;  as  I  doubt  not, 
through  your  Prudence,  it  may  and  will.  And  with  due  Precaution,  the 
Thing  is  necessary  to  be  done. 

And  Dr.  Chandler  writes  to  Dr.  Peters  : 

The  Doctor  has  been  indefatigable  in  his  Endeavours  to  serve  the 
Philadelphia  College  and  greatly  successful  He  well  deserves  the  sin- 
cerest  thanks  of  all  the  Trustees,  of  the  several  Professors  and  Masters,  and 
all  who  wish  well  to  the  College,  and  indeed,  in  general,  of  all  the  Friends 
of  Knowledge  and  Learning.11 

Sir  James  Jay  had  been  left  in  Ireland  by  Dr.  Smith,  and 
the  latter  had  given  settlement  of  their  joint  accounts  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Penn  ;  but  it  was  not  until  August  of  that  year  that  Mr. 
Penn,  as  representative  of  Dr.  Smith,  Sir  James  Jay  for  King's 


"Smith,  i.  351,  52,54. 


420       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

College,  and  Mr.  Barlow  Trecothick,  as  a  Friend  to  both  Colleges, 
met  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  accounts,  which  being  passed 
upon  by  each  one,  Mr.  Trecothick  was  entrusted  with  preparing 
<~he  final  account.  Sir  James  Jay's  unhappy  controversy  with 
his  College  which  grew  out  of  the  accounting  of  his  affairs,  led 
to  the  publication  of  his  Letter  to  the  Governors  of  the  College  of 
New  York,  1771,  before  referred  to.  This  grew,  apparently, 
from  anticipating  his  collections,  and  drawing  for  too  great  an 
amount.  A  reference  to  this  draft  by  Dr..  Smith  in  his  letter  of 
II  February,  1764,  properly  finds  record  here: 

I  thought  it  best  the  moment  I  was  able  to  come  to  look  after  our 
Business  in  England,  and  to  leave  Jay  in  Ireland,  who  does  not  propose  so 
speedy  a  return  to  America  as  is  necessary  for  me.  And  indeed  I  got  to 
England  just  Time  enough  to  save  for  New  York  the  damages  on  ^2500 
protested  bills  ;  for  they  had  drawn  for  ^4000  at  once,  and  Mr  Drummond 
had  but  ^1500,  and  could  not  get  more  as  the  power  of  settling  with  the 
Brief  gatherers  was  in  Jay  and  me.  They  were  too  rash  in  their  Draught 
at  New  York  ;  but,  however,  out  of  their  own  share  the  whole  ^4000  is 
paid  and  ^500  left  over  with  Mr  Drummond,  with  whom  I  have  just  been. 


LXVIL 

Finally,  Provost  Smith  bade  Adieu  to  his  friends  in  Eng- 
land, and  embarking  from  Falmouth  on  23  April  in  the  Earl  of 
/7tf/2/"<2;r  packet,  reached  New  York,1  on  5  June,  and  immediately 
set  out  for  Philadelphia  which  after  a  rapid  journey  for  those 
days  he  reached  the  next  evening.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of 
16  June,  chronicled  his  arrival  and  reception  on  14  June. 

Late  on  Wednesday  Evening  the  6th  Inst.  the  Rev'd  Doctor  Smith, 
Provost  of  the  College  of  this  city,  arrived  in  perfect  health,  having  come 
in  the  Halifax  packet,  in  about  six  weeks  from  Falmouth.  The  Day  follow- 
ing, the  Professors  of  the  Colleges  in  their  proper  Habits,  and  many  of  the 
principal  gentlemen  of  the  city,  gave  him  a  most  cordial  welcome  at  his 


1  New  York  Mercury,  1 1  June,  1 764. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        421 

House;  and  on  Tuesday  last  the  Trustees  of  the  College  received  him  at 
the  College,  and,  after  perusing  the  Papers  and  Accounts  which  he  laid 
before  them,  they  did  by  the  Mouth  of  their  President  return  him  their 
unanimous  Thanks,  for  the  great  Zeal,  Ability,  and  Address,  which  he  hath 
shown  in  the  Management  of  the  Collection,  carried  on  in  conjunction  with 
Sir  James  Jay,  for  this  College,  and  that  of  New  York;  by  Means  of  which, 
about  Thirteen  Thousand  Pounds  Sterling  will  come  clearly  to  be  divided 
between  the  two  Seminaries.2 

But  the  Trustees'  Minutes  of  12  June  give  a  more  stately 
account  of  their  reception  of  him.  Messrs.  Peters,  Hamilton,  Coxe, 
Duche,  Redman,  Edward  Shippen,  Coleman,  Turner,  Phineas  and 
Thomas  Bond,  Lardner,  Strettell,  Stedman,  White,  Willing,  and 
Cadwalader,  met  according  to  notice  and  Dr.  Smith 

being  introduced  by  the  President,  he  was  most  affectionately  received  by 
all  the  members  of  the  Board,  who  expressed  great  satisfaction  on  seeing 
him  safely  returned  and  perfectly  recovered  from  the  dangerous  Sickness 
into  which  he  had  fallen  in  the  City  of  Dublin.  After  which  kind  saluta- 
tions he  produced  the  State  of  the  Collection  as  it  stood  at  the  time  of  his 
Departure  from  England,  properly  vouched  by  the  Hon'ble  Thomas  Penn, 
Esqr  and  Mr.  Alderman  Trecothicke  who  have  kindly  accepted  a  Power  of 
Attorney  from  the  Commissioners  named  in  the  Royal  Brief,  to  examine, 
settle  and  close  the  whole  Collection  as  soon  as  the  remainder  of  the  Briefs 
can  be  returned  into  the  proper  office,  there  being  about  thirteen  hundred 
outstanding  when  Dr.  Smith  came  away,  and  about  nine  thousand  seven 
hundred  returned.  Dr.  Smith  then  delivered  a  joint  Letter  from  the  Pro- 
prietors to  the  Trustees,  and  a  separate  Letter  to  them  from  the  Hon'ble 
Thomas  Penn,  Esq,  after  which  he  withdrew.  Being  soon  afterwards 
called  in,  the  President  in  the  Name  and  by  the  order  of  the  Trustees 
voted  him  their  unanimous  Thanks  in  the  warmest  and  most  affectionate 
Manner  for  the  great  Zeal,  Diligence,  Ability  and  Address  which  he  had 
shown  in  the  Management  of  this  Collection,  for  which  all  the  Friends  of 
this  Institution  as  well  as  of  Learning  in  General  were  under  the  greatest 
obligations  to  him. 


2  The  total  results  as  recited  in  the  account  entered  in  the  Minutes  of  3  May, 
1765,  are  namely: 

One  half  of  the  Brief  Money,  £4800. 

One  half  private  Collections  preceding  22  June,  1762,  1136.10.6 

Royal  Bounty,  200. 

Proprietary  Bounty,  500. 

Collected  before  the  Scheme  for  New  York  was  united,  284.17. 


6921.  7.6 

which   at  current  rate   of  exchange    72^   per  cent,  would   bring  in  Pennsylvania 
Currency,  .£11.939.6.5. 


422       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

To  this  the  Provost  made  a  feeling  and  appropriate  reply, 
closing  with  the  statement 

that  the  Success  had  far  exceeded  anything  that  could  be  reasonably  expected, 
and  would  no  doubt  lead  all  concerned  to  be  truly  thankful  to  our  Bene- 
factors, and  earnestly  desirous  to  manage  their  Bounty  so  as  most  effectu- 
ally to  answer  their  pious  Intentions. 

Dr.  Peters  then  read  the  letter  of  Dr.  Chandler  to  him  of 
12  April,  already  quoted  from,  and  as  it 

referred  to  another  drawn  up  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  him- 
self, Dr.  Smith  produced  the  same,  and  Mr.  Stedman,  Mr.  Shippen,  Mr. 
Duche  and  Dr.  Redman  were  appointed  a  Committee  together  with  the  Pro- 
vost, to  consider  the  said  two  letters  together,  with  those  from  the  Propri- 
etors, and  to  draw  up  proper  addresses  and  answers  to  them  against  Thurs- 
day next. 

Thanks  were  ordered  to  be  conveyed  to  Mr.  Trecothick 
for  his  great  kindness  during  the  whole  Collection  and  also  to 
Messrs.  David  Barclay  and  Sons  for  their  kindness ;  and  before 
closing 

it  was  recommended  to  the  Trustees  to  consider  against  next  Meeting  in 
what  Manner  they  might  best  shew  their  Regard  to  Dr.  Smith,  increase  his 
support,  and  put  him  on  as  respectable  a  Footing  as  possible  in  the  Insti- 
tution. 

And  at  the  following  meeting  this  regard  was  testified  by  allow- 
ing him 

One  Hundred  Pounds  per  annum  as  a  Consideration  for  those  Services, 
which  sum  is  not  to  be  considered  as  an  addition  to  the  Salary  of  Provost, 
but  solely  as  a  Reward  for  Dr.  Smith's  personal  services  in  England. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        423 
LXVIII. 

The  meeting  of  14  June,  1764,  became  a  historic  one,  and 
marks  an  era  in  the  life  of  the  College  of  standing  importance, 
although  fifteen  years  later  that  life  was  for  a  while  stricken  down 
by  its  enemies,  who  turned  to  the  record  of  this  meeting  for  false 
testimony  whereon  to  formulate  their  charges  which  brought 
about  the  abrogation  of  the  existing  charter.  Let  us  first  recite 
the  significant  letter  jointly  signed  by  Archbishop  Seeker,  the 
brothers  Penn,  and  Dr.  Chandler,  of  which  Dr.  Smith  was  the 
bearer.  The  causes  which  led  to  this  historic  document  are 
detailed  by  Dr.  Chandler  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Peters  of  12  April, 
and  display  the  kindly  and  worthy  motives  which  prompted  it. 
He  writes  : 

As  there  have  been  some  Suspicions  entertained  on  both  sides  that 
the  present  Constitution  of  it  may  be  altered,  and  the  Professors  and  Mas- 
ters, now  of  different  Denominations,  in  Time  may  all  be  of  one  prevail- 
ing Denomination  to  the  exclusion  of  those  of  the  other,  by  the  Art  and 
Power  of  the  prevailing  party  ;  and  as  the  Doctor  [Smith]  justly  appre- 
hended this  would  be  contrary  to  the  intention  of  those  who  have  con- 
tributed towards  the  Support  of  the  College  (who  have  been  of  all  parties 
amongst  us)  and  inconsistent  with  the  Prosperity  of  the  Institution  itself, 
by  his  Desire,  I  waited,  Monday  last,  on  the  good  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, where,  with  the  Doctor,  we  freely  debated  this  affair  for  an  Hour 
together.  His  Grace,  a  friend  to  Liberty,  and  highly  approving  the  pres- 
ent Plan  on  which  the  College  is  established,  gave  his  Opinion  that  this 
Plan  should  be  preserved  without  alteration.  I  had  the  Honor  entirely 
to  agree  with  the  ArchbP ,  and,  on  Dr.  Smith's  proposing  to  him  that  a 
Letter  to  the  Trustees  representing  our  Judgment  in  this  affair,  and  signed 
by  both  of  us,  might  be  of  some  Weight  to  keep  Things  on  their  present 
P'ooting  and  prevent  all  future  Jealousies  on  either  side,  he  readily  assented 
to  it.  *  *  *  As  my  Judgment  is  supported  by  that  of  so  worthy  a 
Prelate,  and  as  I  apprehend  by  the  Reason  of  the  Thing  itself,  I  hope  it 
will,  as  his  Judgment,  have  the  good  effect  of  preventing  all  future  jeal- 
ousies, and  of  establishing  Peace  and  Harmony  amongst  all  the  worthy 
Professors,  and  of  promoting  Religion,  Learning  and  Liberty,  which  I  pray 
God  may  long  continue  to  flourish  in  that  Seminary. 

The  following  letter,  it  will  be  seen,  was  joined  in  by  the  Pro- 
prietaries, and  approved  by  one  of  the  most  influential  Trustees, 
then  in  London,  Chief  Justice  Allen. 


424        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

To  the  Trustees  of  the  College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia 
Gentlemen 

We  cannot  omit  the  opportunity  which  Doctr  Smith's  return  to 
Philadelphia  gives  us  of  congratulating  you  on  the  great  success  of  the 
Collection  which  he  came  to  pursue  and  of  acknowledging  your  obliging 
Addresses  of  Thanks  to  us  for  the  Share  we  had  in  recommending  and 
encouraging  this  Design.  Such  a  mark  of  your  Attention  to  us  will,  we 
doubt  not,  excuse  our  hinting  to  you  what  we  think  may  be  further  neces- 
sary to  a  due  Improvement  of  this  Collection,  and  the  future  Prosperity 
of  the  Institution  under  your  care. 

This  Institution  you  have  professed  to  have  been  originally  founded 
and  hitherto  carried  on  for  the  general  Benefit  of  a  mixed  Body  of  People. 
In  his  Majesty's  Royal  Brief,  it  is  represented  as  a  Seminary  that  would  be 
of  great  use  "  for  raising  up  able  Instructors  and  Teachers,  as  well  for  the 
Service  of  the  Society  for  propagating  the  Gospel  in  foreign  Parts,  as  for 
other  Protestant  Denominations  in  the  Colonies." 

At  the  time  of  granting  this  Collection,  which  was  sollicited  by  the 
Provost,  who  is  a  Clergyman  of  the  Church  of  the  England,  it  was  known 
that  there  were  united  with  him  a  Vice  Provost  who  is  a  Presbyterian,  and 
a  principal  Professor  of  the  Baptist  Persuasion,  with  sundry  inferior  Pro- 
fessors and  Tutors,  all  carrying  on  the  Education  of  Youth  with  great  Har- 
mony ;  and  People  of  various  Denominations  have  hereupon  contributed 
liberally  and  freely. 

But  jealousies  now  arising  lest  this  Foundation  should  afterwards  be  nar- 
rowed, and  some  Party  endeavor  to  exclude  the  Rest,  or  put  them  on  a  worse 
Footing  than  they  have  been  from  the  Beginning,  or  were  at  the  Time  of  this 
Collection,  which  might  not  only  be  deemed  unjust  in  itself,  but  might  like- 
wise be  productive  of  Contentions  unfriendly  to  Learning  and  hurtful  to 
Religion  ;  we  would  therefore  recommend  it  to  you,  to  make  some  funda- 
mental Rule  or  Declaration  to  prevent  Inconveniences  of  this  Kind  ;  in 
doing  of  which,  the  more  closely  you  keep  in  View  the  Plan  on  which  the 
Seminary  was  at  the  Time  of  obtaining  the  Royal  Brief,  and  on  which  it 
has  been  carried  on  from  the  Beginning,  so  much  the  less  Cause  we  think 
you  will  give  for  any  Party  to  be  dissatisfied. 

Wishing  continual  Prosperity  and  Peace  to  the  Institution,  We  are, 
with  great  Regard, 

Gentlemen 

Your  faithful 

Friends  and  Servants 

London  Tho.  Cant. 

9  April,  1764  Tho.  &  Richd  Penn 

I  as  a  Trustee  approve  Sam.  Chandler, 

of  this  Letter.   Wit- 
ness my  Hand, 

Will.  Allen 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        425 

Wherein  lay  this  distrust  that  the  Trustees  would  possibly 
narrow  the  scheme  of  the  College  cannot  now  well  be  traced. 
King's  College  was  admittedly  a  Church  of  England  Institution, 
and  was  the  recipient  of  the  noble  bounty  of  Trinity  Church, 
which  to  secure  to  the  College  the  President  of  its  choice  elected 
Dr.  Johnson  an  assistant  Minister  of  the  Parish  in  order  to 
assure  him  a  living.  It  appealed  under  the  Royal  Brief  to  the 
English  people  with  force  equal  to  that  exerted  by  the  Phila- 
delphia College,  though  making  no  pretentions  to  that  "  liberal 
plan"  claimed  by  the  latter  at  its  origin.  But  the  latter  having 
now  renewed  this  claim,  to  meet  possibly  the  desires  of  Dr.  Chand- 
ler and  his  friends,  urgency  was  now  exerted  on  the  Trustees  to 
officially  renew  the  assurance  of  it.  The  President  of  the  Board  was 
now  Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  the  Provost  the 
most  eminent  preacher  and  orator  in  the  Province,  and  the  more 
influential  Trustees  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England. 
These  latter  from  the  outset  had  in  fact  the  same  prevailing 
church  membership,  but  under  Franklin's  leading  impulse  this 
was  not  felt,  they  having  been  united  by  him  to  aid  the  new 
academy  from  their  mercantile  and  personal  influence,  and  in  no 
wise  because  of  their  church  membership.  But  the  gradual 
withdrawal  of  Franklin's  concerns  in  the  Seminary,  and  the 
prevailing  influence  of  Peters,  Smith  and  Duche,1  three  Church 
of  England  clergymen,  especially  as  the  second  of  these  was 
politically  the  champion  of  that  church's  interest  in  the 
Province,  would  suffice  to  give  color  to  any  accusations  of  the 
kind  which  might  be  raised  against  it.  From  Franklin's  present 
standpoint,  it  must  have  appeared  to  be  narrowing,  and  his  fears 
would  be  confirmed  when  he  saw  his  college  uniting  with  a 
Church  of  England  college  in  a  general  collection.  If  this  view 
was  accepted  by  him  before  his  leaving  England,  he  might 
reasonably  give  some  expression  to  it,  for  he  was  without  the 
confidence  of  Dr.  Smith,  whose  estrangement  might  only  serve 


111  Mr.  Stedman  and  Mr.  Duch6  are  both  extremely  kind  and  give  me  all  the 
Assistance  in  their  power  with  the  utmost  assiduity  and  readiness  in  conducting  the 
Academy  Business."  Dr.  Peters  to  Dr.  Smith.  28  May,  1763.  Penna.  Magazine,-*.. 
352. 


426       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

to  strengthen  this  view.  That  some  of  the  Professors  and 
Tutors  were  other  religionists  than  Churchmen,  was  rather  the 
result  perhaps  of  circumstances  than  of  intention,  and  this  may 
have  been  known  to  Franklin.  Dr.  Peters  in  writing  to  Dr. 
Smith  his  letter  of  28  May,  1763,  bewails  this  : 

I  blush  to  tell  you  that  we  have  not  one  church  Tutor  in  all  our 
Academy.  There  is  not  a  Churchman  upon  the  Continent  as  I  can  hear 
of  that  is  fit  to  make  a  Tutor  ;  and  it  is  from  downright  necessity  that  we 
are  obliged  to  take  such  as  offer.2 

This  fear  or  mistrust  of  the  Trustees  would  have  but  little 
weight  as  a  matter  of  mere  record  in  the  life  of  the  College,  but 
as  grave  issues  a  few  years  subsequently  were  evolved  from 
this  disputed  point,  this  seems  the  place  to  look  for  the  seeds 
which  were  claimed  to  bear  the  bitter  fruit  of  those  later  years. 
The  wise  and  capable  Dr.  Chandler  could  not  have  succeeded 
in  winning  Archbishop  Seeker's  cooperation  in  the  present 
appeal  to  the  Trustees,  had  he  not  satisfied  him  that  good  reasons 
prevailed  to  seek  an  official  utterance  from  the  Trustees  which 
would  allay  this  doubt.  Whatever  may  have  been  at  that  time 
the  prevailing  circumstances  which  fostered  this  doubt  as  to  the 
integrity  of  the  appeal  of  the  Trustees  on  their  original  "liberal 
plan,"  we  cannot  now  well  define  them,  but  we  must  admit  their 
credible  existence,  and  the  readiness  of  the  Trustees  to 
appreciate  the  point  and  their  promptness  to  give  a  responsive 
assurance  of  their  integrity  in  this  regard,  is  evidenced  by  their 
immediate  action  upon  the  joint  letter  to  them  from  their  friends. 
And  before  adjournment  at  this  important  meeting  of  14  June, 
they  adopted  the  following  Declaration  : 

The  Trustees  being  ever  desirous  to  promote  the  Peace  and  Pros, 
perity  of  this  Seminary,  and  to  give  Satisfaction  to  all  its  worthy  Bene- 
factors, have  taken  the  above  Letter  into  their  serious  Consideration,  and 
perfectly  approving  the  Sentiments  therein  contained,  do  order  the  same  to 
be  inserted  in  their  Books,  that  it  may  remain  perpetually  declarator)'  of 
the  present  wide  and  excellent  Plan  of  this  Institution,  which  hath  not  only 
met  with  the  approbation  of  the  great  and  worthy  Personages  above  men- 
tioned, but  even  the  Royal  Sanction  of  his  Majesty  himself.  They  further 


1  Penna.  Magazine  x.  352. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       427 

declare  that  they  will  keep  this  Plan  closely  in  their  View,  and  use  their 
utmost  Endeavours  that  the  same  be  not  narrowed  nor  the  Members  of  the 
Church  of  England  or  those  dissenting  from  them  (in  any  future  Election  to 
the  principal  offices  mentioned  in  the  aforesaid  letter)  be  put  on  any  worse 
Footing  in  this  Seminary  than  they  were  at  the  Time  of  obtaining  the 
Royal  Brief.  They  subscribe  this  with  their  names  and  ordain  that  the 
same  be  read  and  subscribed  by  every  new  Trustee  that  shall  hereafter  be 
elected  before  he  takes  his  Seat  at  the  Board. 

Of  the  Twenty-four  Trustees  now  serving,  twenty  promptly 
signed  the  same  on  the  Minute  Book,  including  Franklin, 
though  he  and  Dr.  Shippen  and  Mr.  Chew  did  not  attend  this 
meeting  or  that  of  12  June  called  to  receive  the  Provost.3  Of 
the  other  four,  Mr.  Inglis  who  was  yet  abroad  in  June,  signed 
on  1 1  September;  Chief  Justice  Allen  was  also  abroad  ;  Mr. 
Elliot  had  removed  to  New  York,  and  his  place  was  shortly 
declared  vacant ;  and  Mr.  Syng's  name  also  does  not  appear. 

This  weighty  matter  thus  duly  recorded,  letters  to  their 
kind  friends  were  read,  approved,  and  ordered  to  be  entered  on 
the  minutes.  To  the  Archbishop  they  say  : 

Whatever  comes  recommended  to  us  by  the  names  of  Personages  to 
whom  we  are  under  so  many  obligations,  cannot  fail  of  having  its  due 
Weight  with  us,  more  especially  as  it  is  conformable  to  that  generous  plan 
which  we  have  always  pursued  in  this  Seminary  ;  and  therefore  we  found 


8  Dr.  Shippen's  attendance  at  the  meetings  about  this  time  were  infrequent. 
But  the  absence  of  Mr.  Chew  may  not  have  been  without  design,  if  we  accept  a 
statement  regarding  him  in  Dr.  Peter's  letter  to  Dr.  .smith  of  28  May,  1763:  "It 
gives  your  Friends  here  a  great  deal  of  concern  that  you  have  had  so  much  trouble  in 
defending  yourself  against  what  was  said  to  your  prejudice  about  Mr.  Beaty's  Collec- 
tion. The  noise  as  I  wrote  you,  was  very  strong  at  first,  but  it  has  subsided  for  some 
time.  From  your  first  Letters  we  all  saw  the  thing  in  its  true  light.  *  *  *  I 
gave  Dr.  Alison  the  printed  Letter  with  your  Defence  certified  by  Mr.  Penn  and  Dr. 
Chandler  and  desired  him  to  shew  it  to  his  Brethren.  This  I  did  as  soon  as  the  first 
of  them  arrived.  *  *  I  showed  it  likewise  to  Mr.  Allen  and  left  it  with  him  at 

his  own  request,  and  I  hope  at  meeting  you  will  be  able  to  remove  any  unfavorable 
Impressions  that  may  still  remain  with  him  towards  you.  I  could  find  by  his  discourse 
that  he  had  a  great  sense  of  the  very  great  services  you  was  doing  for  us,  and  make 
no  doubt,  but  as  both  he  and  you  are  very  open  on  all  occasions,  everything  will  be 
discussed  and  settled  between  you  to  mutual  satisfaction.  '  I  have  had 

much  discourse  [with]  Mr.  Chew  and  at  times  with  the  Governor  [Hamilton]  and 
from  both  I  learn  that  the  same  unfavorable  Impressions  conceived  of  you  were  not 
worn  off  yef  your  extraordinary  merit  and  success  were  amply  acknowledged  and  I 
am  sure  they  will  on  your  arrival  make  you  quite  sensible  that  they  are  real  friends 
of  the  Institution,  and  therefore  cannot  but  give  you  a  mighty  hearty  welcome 
and  act  towards  you  a  just  and  kind  Fart.  God  restore  you  to  us  in  good  health, 
and  then  I  think  you  will  find  things  much  better  than  you  can  imagine,  and  we  shall 
be  able  to  put  all  things  on  a  good  footing.''  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  x  351. 


428        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

no  Difficulty  in  making  and  entering  on  our  Books  a  fundamental  Declara- 
tion of  this  Plan  as  proposed  to  us,  a  Copy  of  which  is  hereunto  annexed 
under  our  Seal. 

But  the  next  paragraph  appears  to  show  their  fear  that  the 
Archbishop  might  misconstrue  their  expression,  "  that  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  England  or  those  dissenting  from 
them  be  not  put  on  any  worse  footing  "  than  before  : 

After  the  great  Countenance  shewn  to  this  Seminary  by  our  gracious 
Sovereign  and  by  our  National  Church  over  which  your  Grace  presides,  we 
should  hold  ourselves  inexcusable  if,  by  any  Act  of  ours,  we  should  endeavor 
to  put  the  Interest  of  that  Church  on  any  worse  Footing  in  the  said  Semi- 
nary than  it  was  at  the  Time  of  obtaining  so  great  Favors.  On  the  contrary 
we  think  it  our  Duty  to  shew  every  mark  of  our  Regard  to  that  Church,  so 
far  as  is  consistent  with  our  Faith  pledged  to  other  Religious  Denomina- 
tions and  that  Plan  of  Christian  Liberty  to  which  we  know  your  Grace  is  a 
warm  Friend. 

To  Dr.  Chandler  they  write  : 

You  may  be  well  assured  that  we  shall  be  ever  Zealous  to  preserve 
that  Plan  of  Christian  Liberty  on  which  it  is  the  Glory  of  this  Institution  to  be 
founded  ;  and  at  the  same  time  that  we  shew  all  due  Regard  to  our  national 
Church,  we  shall  never  violate  our  Faith  pledged  to  other  religious  Denomi- 
nations. 

To  the  Proprietaries  they  also  write  their  acknowledgments, 
and  say  : 

What  comes  recommended  to  us  by  Personages  to  whom  we  owe  so 
many  obligations,  could  not  fail  to  have  its  due  Weight  with  us,  more 
especially  as  it  is  conformable  to  that  generous  Plan  which  we  have  always 
pursued  in  this  Seminary  ;  and  therefore  we  found  no  Difficulty  in  making 
and  entering  into  our  Books  a  fundamental  ; Declaration  of  this  Plan,  as 
proposed  to  us. 

The  carefulness  with  which  the  Trustees  reiterated  their 
constant  maintenance  of  the  original  plan  of  the  Institution,  and 
the  grace  with  which  they  now  acceded  to  a  request  from  high 
quarters  to  renew  assurances  to  that  effect,  would  seem  to 
imply  they  had  knowledge  that  there  was  some  ground  for  the 
mistrust  held  by  their  friends,  otherwise  they  would  have  coupled 
to  their  reiteration  some  denial  of,  perhaps  resentment  at,  the 
serious  implications  involved  in  the  request.  The  Trustees  had 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        429 

replied  through  Dr.  Peters  with  becoming  spirit  to  the  equally 
serious  intimations  that  the  funds  arising  from  the  collections 
might  not  meet  with  proper  investments,  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
this  spirit  underthe  present  implications.  But  it  is  only  surmise, 
and  not  evidence,  that  their  good  friends  in  England  had  some 
grounds  for  their  kind  suggestions  and  inquiries. 

The  Trustees  did  not  adjourn  this  important  meeting  of  14 
June  until  they  had  appointed  "  Dr.  Smith  their  Secretary,  to 
take  charge  of  their  Minutes  and  Proceedings  and  to  give  his 
assistance  to  the  Treasurer  whenever  it  may  be  required  ;  which 
services  he  is  to  perform  without  any  further  consideration  than 
the  said  additional  sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  per  annum" 
already  noted.  From  this  time  greater  care  is  preserved,  and 
more  detail  observed  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees,  for  the 
excellent  workmanship  and  industry  of  Dr.  Smith  were  observed 
in  this  minor  office  as  in  all  his  engagements. 


43O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXIX. 

The  worthy  and  faithful  President,  who  had  been  elected 
Rector  of  the  United  Churches  of  Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's 
on  6  December,  1762,  to  succeed  Dr.  Jenney,  whose  funeral 
sermon  Dr.  Smith  had  preached  on  the  eve  of  his  sailing  a  twelve- 
month before,  had  been  himself  desirous  of  going  abroad,  and 
indeed  it  was  subsequently  found  requisite  that  he  should  visit 
England  to  receive  a  license  in  due  form  from  the  Bishop  of 
London  in  person.  He  had  assisted  the  Rector  of  the  Church, 
the  Rev.  Archibald  Cummings  for  a  few  months  in  1736,  but 
the  present  election  was  his  first  cure  and  he  entered  on  his 
duties  at  once,  but  he  felt  indisposed  to  go  abroad  and  leave  the 
young  College,  for  there  was  no  one  among  the  Trustees — 
unless  it  were  young  Duche — who  would  give  it  that  lively 
management  in  the  absence  of  the  Provost  that  he  could.  He 
writes  to  Dr.  Smith  on  28  May,  1763  : 

As  I  have  reason  to  think  you  will  have  been  at  Liverpool,  you  will 
have  satisfied  my  sister  that  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  come  over  this  year. 
*  *  *  You  wrote  in  so  affecting  a  manner  on  this  subject  that  I  am 
forced  tho'  with  reluctance  to  postpone  my  voyage  till  your  return. J  [He  now 
immediately  upon  the  Provost's  return]  informs  the  Board  that  he  was  to 
embark  for  England  in  a  few  Days  to  visit  his  Relations,  and  in  Hopes  to 
benefit  his  Health.  *  *  *  The  Trustees,  by  one  of  their  Members 
returned  him  their  unanimous  Thanks  for  his  long  and  faithful  Services  to 
the  Institution,  and  on  his  Resignation  of  the  office  of  President,  the 
Hon'ble  James  Hamilton  was  unanimously  elected  President,  which  he  was 
pleased  to  accept 

Dr.  Peters  "  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  his  congregations 
at  Christ  Church  on  Sunday  [i7th  June]  and  on  Monday  morn- 
ing set  out  for  New  Castle,  in  order  to  embark  for  England  ;  "2 
he  remained  abroad  eighteen  months,  returning  home  in  the 
Christmas  holidays  of  1765  ;3  and  his  attendance  at  the  meeting 
of  14  January,  1766,  testified  to  the  prompt  resumption  of  his 
share  in  the  College  trust. 


1  Penna.   Magazine,  x.  352. 

2  Penna.  Gazette,  20  June,  1764.  3  Ibid,  2  January,    1766. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       431 

A  commencement  for  the  year   1764  was  in  preparation, 
but  at  the  meeting  of  13  March,  Dr.  Peters 

acquaints  the  Trustees  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Dr  Smith  wherein 
he  desired  that  the  time  of  the  ensuing  Commencement  might  be  left  open 
till  his  arrival,  as  it  would  then  be  necessary  to  make  a  publick  mention  of 
the  generous  donations  made  to  the  Academy  and  other  distinguishing 
marks  of  respect  shewed  the  Institution  in  the  course  of  his  present  appli- 
cations; and  agreeable  to  his  request  it  was  Resolved  that  no  time  should 
be  fixed  for  the  Commencement,  but  that  the  Candidates  should  be  exam- 
ined by  such  of  the  Trustees  as  would  attend  on  the  z8th  of  this  month, 
and  if  they  should  be  found  well  qualified  that  they  then  should  be  exam- 
ined in  publick  on  the  6th  of  April,  of  which  last  examination,  notice  is  to 
be  inserted  in  the  Gazette  as  usual.4 

But  the  Provost's  departure  from  England  was  delayed,  with 
the  result  that  no  order  was  taken  for  the  annual  commence- 
ment ;  and  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  who  were  the  suc- 
cessful candidates  in  1764  who  took  their  degrees  at  the 
commencement  of  1765. 


4  The  Penna.  Gazette,  5  April,  1764. 


432        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXX. 

The  Rev.  George  Whitefield  favored  Philadelphia  with 
another  of  his  visits  in  1764,*  and  on  9  October  the  Trustees 
appointed  ''Dr.  Redman,  Mr.  Duche,  and  the  Provost  to  wait 
on  him  and  to  request  in  Behalf  of  the  Trustees  that  before  his 
Departure  from  this  City  he  would  oblige  the  Institution  with  a 
sermon  for  the  Benefit  of  the  Charity  Children  educated  in  it," 
which  he  did  on  the  i/th  in  the  College  Hall,  "an  excellent 
sermon  from  St.  Matthew  vi.  10,  Thy  Kingdom  come.  He 
concluded  with  a  most  fervent  and  Christian  exhortation  to  the 
Youth  of  the  Institution ;  and  the  Collection  at  the  doors 
amounted  to  one  Hundred  and  Five  pounds."2  Whitefield 
speaks  of  this  as  "one  of  the  best  regulated  institutions  in  the 
world  ;"  and  in  describing  this  service  writes  : 

Dr.  Smith  read  prayers  for  me;  both  the  present  and  the  late  Gov- 
ernor, with  the  head  gentlemen  of  the  city  were  present;  and  cordial  thanks 
were  sent  to  me  from  all  the  trustees,  for  speaking  for  the  children,  and 
countenancing  the  institution.3 

Mr.  Whitefield  had  attended  and  preached  at  the  Commence- 
ment of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  at  Princeton  on  26 
September.4 

But  the  Kingdom  of  Peace,  which  Whitefield  preached  in 
October,  did  not  spare  the  Province  a  strife  of  politics  which 
was  the  severest  experienced  by  its  citizens  for  many  years. 
Dr.  Smith's  return  home  was  in  the  midst  of  this  ferment,  and  as 
the  two  foremost  men  in  the  College  annals  became  prominent 
on  opposite  sides,  we  must  pause  in  the  recital  of  these  to 
take  a  view  of  the  civil  situation  surrounding  its  academic 
halls.  But  we  must  go  back  a  twelvemonth  to  obtain  the 
key  to  the  situation.  The  return  of  peace,  that  of  1763, 


1  Dr.  Franklin  writes  him  19  June,  1764,    "  We  hope  you  will  not  be  deterred 
from  writing  your  friends  here,  by  the  bugbear  Boston  account  of  the  unhealthiness 
of  Philadelphia."     Bigelow  iii.  251. 

2  Penna.  Gazette,  1 8  October,  1764. 
3Tyerman's  Life\\.  477. 

*  Penna.  Gazette,  II  October,  1764. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        433 

bought  to  a  close  the  active  military  work  of  the  colonies,  and 
the  frontiersmen  were  now  more  exposed  to  marauding  Indians, 
who,  having  tasted  war  under  the  influence  of  the  French  intrigues, 
nourished  memories  of  hatred  against  the  English  settlers  and 
sought  in  some  cases  to  avenge  themselves  for  past  injuries. 
The  whites  dreamed  of  a  war  of  extermination  of  the  Indians, 
and  awoke  to  the  reality  of  a  murder  of  a  band  of  peaceful 
Indians  who  had  for  two  generations  dwelt  in  Lancaster  county 
in  amity  with  all  their  neighbors,  the  oldest  of  them  being 
Shehaes,  who  had  assisted  at  Penn's  second  treaty  in  1701  and 
had  ever  since  continued  a  faithful  and  affectionate  friend 
to  the  English.  In  the  middle  of  December,  1763,  a  body  of 
less  than  sixty  men  from  Paxtang  Township,  in  that  county, 
marched  one  night  and  surrounded  their  settlement  in  Cones- 
toga  Manor,  and  massacred  without  note  of  warning  the  few 
they  there  found,  for  the  most  happened  to  be  away  from  home 
at  the  moment.  These  latter,  hearing  of  this  cruel  work,  sought 
refuge  in  Lancaster  and  were  by  their  friends  secured  in  the  jail 
to  spare  them  from  attack  of  the  same  party,  who  became  known 
as  the  Paxton  Boys.  News  of  the  massacre  of  the  14  December 
was  speedily  carried  to  Philadelphia,  and  produced  intense 
indignation  ;  the  Governor  issued  his  proclamation  calling  upon 
all  officers  to  make  diligent  search  for  the  murderers.  But 
unheeding  this,  and  undaunted  by  the  shame  and  cruelty  of 
their  proceeding,  they  came  to  Lancaster  where  they  heard  the 
remaining  villagers  were  in  hiding,  and  on  the  second  day  after 
Christmas,  appeared  in  force,  and  broke  into  the  jail,  and  mur- 
dered all  the  Indians  they  there  found.  Governor  Penn  issued 
a  second  proclamation  on  2  January,  1764.  Franklin  wrote  his 
well-known  Narrative  of  the  late  Massacres  in  Lancaster  County 
of  a  number  of  Indians,  friends  of  this  province,  appealing  to  the 
people  by  every  instinct  of  mercy  and  justice  to  stand  by  the 
honor  of  the  government  and  protect  peaceable  citizens,  even 
though  they  might  be  Indians  whom  they  were  asked  to  shield 
from  unprovoked  slaughter.  He  says  : 

Let   us  rouse  ourselves,  for  shame,   and  redeem  the  honor  of  our 
province  from  the  contempt  of  its  neighbors;  let  all  good  men  join  heartily 


434        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

and  unanimously  in  support  of  the  laws,  and  in  strengthening  the  hands  of 
government,  that  justice  may  be  done,  the  wicked  punished,  and  the  inno- 
cent protected;  otherwise  we  can,  as  a  people,  expect  no  blessing  from 
Heaven;  there  will  be  no  security  for  our  persons  or  properties ;  anarchy 
and  confusion  will  prevail  over  all;  and  violence  without  judgment  dispose 
of  everything.  *  *  *  I  shall  conclude  with  observing,  that  cowards 
can  handle  arms,  can  strike  where  they  are  sure  to  meet  with  no  return, 
can  wound,  mangle  and  murder;  but  it  belongs  to  brave  men  to  spare  and 
protect;  for,  as  the  poet  says, 

'  Mercy  still  sways  the  brave.  ' 

But  neither  the  fulminations  of  the  authorities,  nor  the  elo- 
quence of  the  foremost  citizen  of  the  province  had  weight  with 
these  savages  of  a  whiter  hue.  Their  thirst  for  Indian  bloodied 
them  to  search  for  wider  streams  wherein  to  quench  it.  Many 
friendly  Indians  in  the  province,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
and  forty,  some  of  them  Christians  under  Moravian  teachings,  at 
once  sought  protection  among  their  Philadelphia  friends,  where 
they  found  a  place  of  refuge  on  Providence  Island  in  the  Dela- 
ware. The  Paxton  Boys  marched  towards  Philadelphia  in  swel- 
ling numbers.  The  Indians  were  now  brought  into  the  city  and 
secured  in  the  barracks.  Franklin,  at  the  request  of  the  Gover- 
nor, organized  a  military  association  as  he  had  done  before  under 
the  fears  of  foreign  invasion,  and  nine  companies  were  formed. 
The  Paxton  boys  had  marched  as  far  as  Germantown,  where 
they  paused,  hearing  of  the  Indians'  protection  and  the  prepara- 
tions for  their  armed  defence  :  happily,  a  fatal  pause  to  their 
schemes.  Governor  Penn  deputed  Franklin  with  other  citizens 
to  go  out  and  meet  them,  among  these  being  his  fellow  Trustees 
Dr.  Peters,  Thomas  Willing  and  Benjamin  Chew.  But  an  influ- 
ential element  in  the  province  exhibited  some  sympathy  with  the 
cry  of  "  Down  with  the  Indians,"  and  beyond  the  quiet  disper- 
sion of  these  marauders,  unharmed  by  the  law,  nothing  was 
accomplished ;  and  the  month  of  February  witnessed  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  excitement  and  the  assured  safety  of  the  Indians. 
Their  enemies  alleged  that  the  friendship  of  these  Indians  was 
deceitful,  that  they  gave  encouragement  to  traitors,  even  if  they 
did  not  harbor  them  ;  that  retaliation  was  justifiable ;  and  their 
war  was  against  them  as  a  nation,  of  which  every  tribe  and  indi- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        435 

vidual  formed  a  part  Indeed,  religious  enthusiasm  suggested,  as 
they  were  heathen,  there  was  a  divine  command  to  exterminate 
them.  Even  the  mild  John  Ewing,  the  divine  who  was  filling 
Provost  Smith's  chair  in  his  absence  wrote  to  his  young  friend 
Joseph  Reed  then  in  London, 

Our  public  money  is  lavishly  squandered  away  in  supporting  a  num- 
ber of  savages,  who  have  been  murdering  and  scalping  us  for  many  years 
past  This  has  so  enraged  some  desperate  young  men,  who  had  lost 
their  nearest  relations,  by  these  very  Indians,  to  cut  off  about  twenty 
Indians  that  lived  near  Lancaster,  who  had,  during  the  war,  carried  on  a 
constant  intercourse  with  our  other  enemies  ;  and  they  came  down  to  Ger- 
mantown  to  inquire  why  Indians,  known  to  be  enemies,  were  to  be  sup- 
ported, even  in  luxury,  with  the  best  that  our  markets  afforded,  at  the 
public  expense,  while  they  were  left  in  the  utmost  distress  on  the  Frontiers, 
in  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  Ample  promises  were  made  to  them  that 
their  grievances  should  be  redressed,  upon  which  they  immediately  dis- 
persed and  went  home.  *  *  *  Few,  but  Quakers,  think  that  the 
Lancaster  Indians  have  suffered  anything  but  their  just  deserts.  'Tis  not 
a  little  surprising  to  us  here,  that  orders  should  be  sent  from  the  Crown,  to 
apprehend  and  bring  to  justice  those  persons  who  have  cut  off  that  nest  of 
enemies  that  lived  near  Lancaster.  *  *  *  What  surprises  us  more 
than  all,  the  accounts  we  have  from  England,  is,  that  our  Assembly,  in  a 
petition  they  have  drawn  up,  to  the  King,  for  a  change  of  Government, 
should  represent  this  Province  in  a  state  of  uproar  and  riot,  and  when  not  a 
man  in  it  has  once  resisted  a  single  officer  of  the  Government,  nor  a  single 
act  of  violence  committed,  unless  you  call  the  Lancaster  affair  such, 
although  it  was  no  more  than  going  to  war  with  that  tribe,  as  they  had 
done  before  with  others,  without  a  formal  proclamation  of  war  by  the  Gov- 
ernment5 

We  cannot  wonder  at  Franklin's  indictment  of  the  Govern- 
ment, two  months  later,  in  his  Cool  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Situ- 
ation of  Our  Public  Affairs  : 

At  present  we  are  in  a  wretched  situation.  The  Government,  that 
ought  to  Keep  all  in  order,  is  itself  weak,  and  has  scarce  authority  enough 
to  keep  the  common  peace.  Mobs  assemble  and  Kill  (we  scarce  dare  say 
murder)  numbers  of  innocent  people  in  cold  blood,  who  were  under  the 
protection  of  the  Government.  Proclamations  are  issued  to  bring  the 
rioters  to  justice.  Those  proclamations  are  treated  with  the  utmost  indig- 
nity and  contempt  Not  a  magistrate  dares  wag  a  finger  towards  discover- 


5  Life  and  Correspondent*  of  President  Reed,  William  B.  Reed.i.  35. 


436       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

ing  or  apprehending  the  delinquents  (we  must  not  call  them  murderers). 
They  assemble  again,  and  with  arms  in  their  hands  approach  the  capital. 
The  Government  truckles,  condescends  to  cajole  them,  and  drops  all  prose- 
cution of  their  crimes  ;  while  honest  citizens,  threatened  in  their  lives  and 
fortunes,  flee  the  province,  as  having  no  confidence  in  the  people' s  protec- 
tion. We  are  daily  threatened  with  more  of  these  tumults  ;  and  the  Gov- 
ernment, which  in  its  distress  called  aloud  on  the  sober  inhabitants  to  come 
with  arms  to  its  assistance,  now  sees  those  who  afforded  that  assistance 
daily  libelled,  abused,  and  menaced  by  its  partisans  for  so  doing  ;  whence 
it  has  little  reason  to  expect  such  assistance  on  another  occasion. 

This  border  episode,  sanguinary  as  it  was,  would  have  had 
less  significance  but  for  the  heat  of  local  politics  then  existing. 
The  disputes  between  the  people  through  their  Assemblymen 
with  the  Proprietaries,  were  reaching  a  culmination.  The 
advent  in  the  province  in  the  previous  autumn  of  a  Governor  of 
Penn's  name  and  blood  had  produced  great  hopes  of  a  harmo- 
nious government ;  but  it  was  soon  found  he  came  with  family 
instructions  as  rigid  as  his  predecessors  ;  and  the  popular  disap- 
pointment was  greater  in  proportion  to  the  height  upon  which 
favorable  hopes  had  been  built.  The  outbreak  of  the  Paxton 
Boys  showed  the  weakness  of  government,  and  afforded  fresh 
material  for  the  advocates  of  a  change  to  employ  in  their  argu- 
ments, and  Franklin's  Narrative  made  a  lively  picture  of  the 
situation  as  they  apprehended  it  Governor  Penn  proposed  a 
Militia  Bill,  seeing  the  weakness  of  the  province  in  self-defence, 
and  the  Assembly  framed  one  in  which  due  regard  was  had  to 
the  nomination  of  officers  by  the  companies,  but  the  Governor 
returned  the  bill,  as  it  did  not  clothe  him  with  the  sole  power 
of  their  appointment,  and  the  bill  was  accordingly  lost.6 
Renewed  dissensions  on  the  supply  bill  arose  upon  the  clause 
which  subjected  the  Proprietary  lands  to  a  modified  taxation, 
which  the  Governor  contended  should  be  the  maximum  for 
all  their  lands,  whether  improved  or  unimproved  ;  and  the  finan- 
cial necessities  of  the  province  were  such  that  the  Assembly 
finally  yielded  the  point,  but  in  great  wrath.  Convinced  that 


6  In  September,  1764,  under  the  name  of  Veritas  Franklin  wrote  his  Remarks 
on  a  partictilar  militia  bill  rejected  by  the  Proprietor's  Deputy,  or  Governor.  Bigelow 
iii.  304. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNYSLVANIA.       437 

nothing  now  was  left  but  to  seek  a  change  of  government,  from 
Proprietary  to  Royal  administration,  the  majority,7  on  24  March, 
1764,  passed  a  resolution  of  adjournment, 

in  order  to  consult  their  Constituents,  whether  an  humble  address  should 
be  drawn  up,  and  transmitted  to  his  Majesty,  praying,  that  he  would  be 
graciously  pleased  to  take  the  People  of  this  Province  under  his  immediate 
Protection  and  Government,  by  compleating  the  Agreement  heretofore 
made  with  the  first  Proprietary  for  the  Sale  of  the  Government  to  the  Crown, 
or  otherwise  as  to  his  Wisdom  and  Goodness  shall  seem  meet, 

and  took  a  recess  until  14  May.  On  12  April  Franklin  issued 
his  Cool  Thoughts. 

The  response  from  their  constituency  confirmed  the  majority 
in  their  attitude  ;  and  reassembling  on  14  May,  they  proceeded  to 
put  in  form  a  "  Petition  to  the  King  for  changing  the  Proprietary 
Government  of  Pennsylvania  into  a  Royal  Government,"8  and 
on  24  May  John  Dickinson  made  his  celebrated  speech  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  measure,  the  publication  of  which  shortly  after- 
wards brought  Provost  Smith  into  participation  in  the  contro- 
versy, and  Joseph  Galloway  at  once  responded  to  it  in  a  speech 
which  was  also  published.  On  the  next  day  the  Petition  was 
ordered  to  be  transcribed,9  in  order  to  be  signed  by  the  Speaker 
on  the  day  following ;  Isaac  Norris,  the  Speaker,  waived  his 
signature  to  the  Petition  by  resigning,  when  Franklin  was 
elected  in  his  place,  and  gave  his  official  signature  to  it.10  Both 
Norris  and  Dickinson  had  been  with  Franklin  opponents  to  the 
exactions  and  demands  of  the  Proprietaries  and  hoped  for  some 
other  government,  but  could  not  advance  with  him  so  far  as  to 
seek  as  a  substitute  a  royal  government.  On  6  June,  the  day 
Provost  Smith  arrived  in  Philadelphia  from  his  collecting  tour, 
some  of  the  Proprietary  friends  applied  to  Mr.  Dickinson  for  a 


1  The  vote  was  twenty-seven  to  three. 

8  Drawn  by  Franklin.     Bigelow  iii.  303. 

'Joseph  Richardson,  Isaac  Saunders  and  John  Montgomery,  were  the  only 
members  to  vote  with  Dickinson  affirmatively  on  his  resolution  to  adjourn  the  sub- 
ject another  day. 

10  "Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq.,  was  accordingly  chosen  speaker,  and  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  signed  the  petition,  as  one  of  his  first  acts ;  an  act  which 
— but  posterity  will  best  be  able  to  give  it  a  name  !"  Smith's  Preface,  vii.,  to  Dickin- 
son's speech  printed  by  William  Bradford,  1764. 


438        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

copy  of  his  speech,  "  persuaded  that  the  publication  thereof 
would  be  of  great  utility  and  give  general  satisfaction."  But  the 
speech  needed  the  aid  of  another  pen,  and  Dr.  Smith  was  at 
once  asked  to  write  a  preface  to  it.  No  man  in  the  colonies 
was  deemed  so  apt  and  able  to  take  the  other  side  in  any  con- 
troversy in  which  Franklin  was  engaged  as  was  the  Provost  of 
the  College ;  even  the  influential  and  capable  legislator,  Dick- 
inson, now  sought  his  fluent  pen,  and  he  was  ready  to  respond. 
Fresh  from  successes  "at  home,"  and  with  grateful  memories  of 
his  treatment  by  the  Penns,  he  would  naturally  warm  to  this 
work  and  apply  his  ready  skill  to  the  attack  of  any  attempt 
which  sought  to  destroy  the  proprietary  interest  and  rule.  It  is 
one  of  his  best  political  papers,  but  evidently  written  in  haste. 
Its  publication  at  once  brought  to  the  press  Galloway's  speech, 
which  was  in  turn  preceded  by  a  Preface,  the  author  being 
Franklin  himself.  Dr.  Smith's  Preface  to  Dickinson's  speech 
was  sufficiently  open  to  his  corrections  and  criticisms,  and  we 
have  one  of  the  clearest  and  most  pungent  of  his  political 
articles  ;  knowing  who  Dickinson's  sponsor  was,  he  sought 
occasion  under  cover  of  Galloway's  speech  to  answer  him  and 
meet  his  statements  and  insinuations,  and  to  present  to  the 
reader  a  historic  account  of  the  more  recent  controversies 
between  the  Governors  and  the  Assembly/1  in  which  no  Penn- 
sylvanian  was  better  informed  than  he.. 


11 "  It  has  long  been  observed,  that  Men  are,  with  that  Party,  Angels  or  Demons, 
just  as  they  happen  to  concur  with  or  oppose  their  Measures,  and  I  mention  it  for  the 
comfort  of  old  Sinners,  that  in  Politics,  as  well  as  in  Religion,  Repentance  and 
Amendment,  though  late,  shall  obtain  Forgiveness  and  procure  Favor.  *  *  *  *  Then 
might  all  your  political  offences  be  done  away,  and  your  scarlet  Sins  become  as  Snow 
and  Wool ;  then  might  you  end  your  Course  with  (Proprietary)  Honor.  P[eters] 
should  preach  your  Funeral  Sermon,  and  S[mith]  the  Poisoner  of  other  characters, 
embalm  your  Memory."  Preface,  xxiv.  to  Galloway's  speech  printed  by  W.  Dun- 
lap,  1764. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        439 


LXXI. 

Nothing  was  now  left  but  to  await  the  results  of  the 
autumn  elections,  by  which  either  of  the  great  parties  hoped  to 
attain  the  ascendancy.  A  crisis  had  been  reached  in  provincial 
affairs,  and  the  issues  must  be  decided.  In  the  city  the  Proprie- 
tary party  had  gained  some  allies,  from  varying  causes.  All 
those  who  sympathized  with  the  principles  (or  want  of  princi- 
ples) of  the  Paxton  Boys  were  now  antagonistic  to  Franklin  and 
others  who  had  cried  aloud  for  the  suppression  of  their  crimes.1 
The  influential  Presbyterians  were  now  united  in  sentiment 
against  a  change  of  government,  rather  willing  to  bear  with 
present  ills  than  open  the  door  for  a  change  to  a  Royal  govern- 
ment which  might  involve  even  the  greater  influence  of  Episco- 
pacy than  was  now  represented  by  the  Penns.  Both  the  Vice- 
Provost,  Alison,  and  Professor  Ewing,  had  joined  with  Gilbert 
Tennent  in  a  Circular  Letter  on  30  March  to  their  friends  : 

The  Presbyterians  here,  upon  mature  deliberation,  are  of  opinion, 
that  it  is  not  safe  to  do  things  of  such  importance  rashly.  Our  privileges 
by  those  means  may  be  greatly  abridged,  but  will  never  be  enlarged.  We 
are  under  the  King's  protection  now,  as  much  as  we  can  be,  for  he  will  never 
govern  us  in  person;  and  it  is  of  no  great  consequence  whether  his  deputy 
be  recommended  by  the  Proprietaries,  or  by  some  other  great  man  by  his 
Majesty's  approbation.  Our  charter  is  in  danger  by  such  a  change,  and 
let  no  man  persuade  you  to  the  contrary.2 

The  reference  to  "some  other  great  man"  conveyed  an  inti- 
mation of  the  fear  many  cultivated  that  Franklin  was  seeking 
under  cover  of  a  change  of  charter  his  own  personal  advance- 
ment ;  certain  it  may  be  that  had  the  change  been  consummated 
and  had  the  new  Master,  the  King,  sought  to  make  the  most 
prominent  citizen  the  Governor  of  the  Province,  that  officer 
would  have  been  Franklin.  A  man  whose  rare  power  of  influ- 


1<(My  very  zeal  in  opposing  the  murderers,  and  supporting  the  authority  of 
Government,  and  even  my  humanity  with  regard  to  the  innocent  Indians  under  our 
protection,  were  mustered  among  my  offences,  to  stir  up  against  me  those  religious 
bigots,  who  are  of  all  savages  the  most  brutish."  Remarks.  Bigelow  iii.  361. 

J  Sparks  vii.  282. 


44O       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

encing  people  was  without  its  equal  in  the  Province,  and  whose 
pen  was  feared  if  not  respected  by  all,  could  only  have  arisen  to 
this  prominence  from  unworthy  motives,  many  said ;  and  for 
them  to  impute  to  him  now  sinister  designs  for  his  aggrandize- 
ment was  to  be  expected.  In  the  heats  of  party  strife,  suspicions 
as  to  another's  motives  may  be  fused  in  one's  imagination  only. 
The  elections  took  place,  and  Franklin,  after  having  received 
fourteen  consecutive  elections  to  the  Assembly,  being  honored 
with  them  during  his  six  years  residence  abroad,3  was  now 
defeated,  but  only  by  a  minority  of  twenty-five  out  of  a  total 
vote  of  four  thousand.  However,  the  elections  generally  assured 
a  continued  majority  in  the  Assembly  opposed  to  Proprietary 
rule,  and  so  soon  as  it  convened  in  October,  he  was  appointed 
to  "  embark  immediately  for  Great  Britain  to  join  with  and  assist 
the  present  agent  in  transacting  the  affairs  of  this  Province  for 
the  ensuing  year,"4  and  to  bear  their  petition  for  a  change  of 
government.  This  turn  of  affairs,  so  unlocked  for,  gave  much 
chagrin  to  the  Proprietary  party.  Instead  of  committing  him  to 
private  life  at  the  public  election  as  they  hoped,  he  was  now 
raised  to  a  position  of  imminent  danger  to  them.  Great  excite- 
ment prevailed.  The  elation  of  the  popular  party  at  this  happy 
stroke  of  policy  intensified  the  disappointment  of  the  other  side  ; 
but  these  latter  were  powerless  to  thwart  the  appointment  and 
could  only  vent  their  thoughts  in  a  Protest  "  against  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  person  proposed  as  an  agent  of  the  Province,"5 
which  paper  bears  the  marks  of  Dr.  Smith's  authorship  ;  but 
only  ten  members  of  the  Assembly  signed  it,  including  Thomas 
Willing  and  George  Bryan  who  had  just  been  elected  in  the  place 
of  Franklin  and  his  associate  Samuel  Rhoads.  The  appointment 
was  made  on  26  October ;  Franklin  at  once  prepared  to  fulfill 
his  mission.  There  being  no  funds  in  the  treasury  to  assure  him 
of  the  payment  of  his  expenses,  the  deficiency  was  to  be  "  pro- 


3 "  In  none  of  the  fourteen  elections  you  mention  did  I  ever  appear  as  a  can- 
didate. I  never  did,  directly  or  indirectly,  solicit  any  man's  votes.  For  six  of  the 
years  in  which  I  was  annually  chosen,  I  was  absent,  residing  in  England."  Remarks. 
Bigelow  iii.  361. 

4  Penna.  Gazette,  I  November,   1764. 

5  Smith  i.  344,587. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       441 

vided  for  in  the  next  bill  prepared  by  the  House  for  raising 
money  to  defray  the  public  debt."  But  Franklin  writes  his 
nephew,  Jonathan  Williams,  "  The  merchants  here  in  two  hours 
subscribed  eleven  hundred  pounds  to  be  lent  the  public  for  the 
charges  of  my  voyage.  I  shall  take  with  me  but  a  part  of  it, 
five  hundred  pounds  sterling."6 

The  Protest  was  not  received  by  the  House,  and  found  no 
entry  in  the  Minutes,  and  its  signers  proceeded  to  publish  it.7 

This  called  out,  two  days  before  his  sailing,  his  Remarks  on  a 
late  Protest  against  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Franklin  as  agent  for 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  his  ablest  and  most  caustic 
papers,  as  the  structure  of  the  Protest  and  its  charges  afforded 
him  some  strong  points  for  his  criticism  and  invective.  One  of 
the  opening  paragraphs  has  a  personal  reference  in  it  which 
should  bear  quotation  in  this  connection. 

Another  of  your  reasons  is  that  I  am,  as  you  are  informed,  very 
unfavorably  thought  of  by  several  of  his  Majesty' s  ministers .  I  apprehend, 
Gentlemen  that  your  informer  is  mistaken .  He  indeed  has  taken  great  pains 
to  give  unfavorable  impressions  of  me,  and  perhaps  may  flatter  himself  that 
it  is  impossible  so  much  true  industry  should  be  totally  without  effect.  His 
long  success  in  maiming  or  murdering  all  the  reputations  that  stand  in  his 
way  (which  has  been  the  dear  delight  and  constant  employment  of  his  life) 
may  likewise  have  given  him  some  just  ground  for  confidence,  that  he  has. 
as  they  call  it,  done  for  me,  among  the  rest.  But,  as  I  said  before,  I 
believe  he  is  mistaken.8 

He  evidently  had  no  doubt  as  to  the  authorship  of  the 
Protest. 

His  concluding  paragraph  has  a  hidden  prophecy  of  his 
long  absence,  and  is  pathetic  in  its  expression,  as  more  than  ten 
years  were  passed  in  the  pursuance  of  this  vexatious  mission,  and 
his  return  was  coincident  with  the  new  birth  of  his  country,  for 


6  3  November,  1764.     Bigelow  iii.  256. 

7 "  I  would  observe  that  this  mode  of  protesting  by  the  minority,  with  a  string  of 
reasons  against  the  proceedings  of  the  majority  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  is  quite  new 
among  us;  the  present  is  the  second  we  have  had  of  the  kind,  and  both  within  a  few 
months.  It  is  unknown  to  the  practice  of  the  House  of  Commons,  or  of  any  House 
of  Representatives  in  America  that  I  ever  heard  of,  and  seems  an  affected  imitation 
of  the  Lords  in  Parliament, which  can  by  no  means  become  Assembly-men  of  America." 
Franklin  in  his  Remarks.  Bigelow  iii.  357. 

8  Bigelow  iii.  358. 


442        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

he  was  homeward  bound  on  the    ocean  when  the  first   blood  of 
the  Revolution  was  shed  in  April,  1775. 

I  am  now  to  take  leave  (perhaps  last  leave)  of  the  country  I  love, 
and  in  which  I  have  spent  the  greatest  part  of  my  life.  Esto  perpetua.  I 
wish  every  kind  of  prosperity  to  my  friends;  and  I  forgive  my  enemies.9 

More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  later  Dr.  Smith  delivered 
his  Eulogium  on  Dr.  Franklin  ;  time  had  brought  him  to  differ- 
ent conclusions  on  the  struggles  of  1764,  for  speaking  of  this 
second  mission  of  Franklin,  he  said  : 

But  under  whatsoever  circumstances  this  second  embassy  was  under- 
taken, it  appears  to  have  been  a  measure  pre-ordained  in  the  councils  of 
Heaven;  and  it  will  be  forever  remembered,  to  the  honor  of  Pennsylvania, 
that  the  agent  selected  to  assert  and  defend  the  rights  of  a  single  province, 
at  the  Court  of  Great  Britain,  became  the  bold  asserter  of  the  rights  of 
America  in  general;  and  beholding  the  fetters  that  were  forged  for  her, 
conceived  the  magnanimous  thought  of  rending  them  asunder  before  they 
could  be  riveted.10 

But  two  years  ere  this  oration  Dr.  Smith  had  meted  out  to 
Dr.  Franklin  in  the  records  of  the  College  his  due  honor  for  its 
creation,  when  he  as  Secretary  of  the  Trustees  recorded  in  the 
Minutes  of  their  meeting  which  was  held  at  Dr.  Franklin's 
house  9  March,  1789,  for  reorganization,  the  unanimous  election 
of  "  the  venerable  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  Father  and  one 
of  the  first  Founders  of  the  Institution  "  as  President  of  the  Board. 

Franklin  left  Philadelphia  on  7  November,  and  took  ship  at 
Chester,  whither  he  was  attended  by  a  cavalcade  of  three  hundred 
citizens.  n 

It  was  kind  to  favor  me  with  their  good  company  as  far  as  they 
could.  The  affectionate  leave  taken  of  me  by  so  many  dear  friends  at 
Chester,  was  very  endearing;  God  bless  them  and  all  Pennsylvania. 

He  writes  to  his  daughter  from  Reed  Island  the  next  night.    He 


9  Bigelow  iii.  370. 

10  Works,  1803,  i.  6l.     He  here  quotes  the  Abbe  Fauchet.     Smith  ii.  334. 

11  Yesterday  B.  Franklin,  Esq.,  appointed  an  agent  for  this  Province  at  the 
Court  of  Great    Britain  set  out  for  Chester,  in  order  to  embark  on  board  the  King 
of  Prussia,  Captain  Robinson,  for  London,  when  he  was  accompanied  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  reputable   inhabitants   from  both  City  and  Country.     Penna.   Gazette,  8 
March,  1764. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       443 

had  a  favorable  passage  of  thirty  days,  and  was  in  London  on 
10  December.12  Here  we  leave  him  in  the  furtherance  of  those 
measures  of  hopeful  conciliation,  which,  however,  eventually 
shaped  themselves  to  the  separation  of  the  colonies,  though  when 
he  entered  on  this  present  mission  even  his  foresight  could  not 
apprehend  such  a  political  change  which  was  of  greater  magni- 
tude and  promise  than  had  been  witnessed  in  the  political  world 
for  many  ages.  And  in  the  meanwhile  we  must  seek  a  portrayal 
of  the  continued  life  and  work  of  the  College  of  his  foundation, 
which  under  other  hands  was  to  supply  the  community  with  well 
trained  men  who  would  thus  be  better  fitted  to  become  cit- 
izens of  the  young  Nation  with  whose  birth  and  infancy  the 
name  of  Franklin  will  ever  be  inseparably  coupled. 


LXXIL 

The  new  buildings,  the  want  of  means  for  the  completion 
of  which  had  been  the  moving  cause  for  Dr.  Smith's  tour  of 
solicitation  in  England  and  Ireland,  had  been  completed  and 
were  in  part  occupied.  But  the  institution  was  yet  unable  to 
make  the  lodgings  therein  entirely  free.  At  the  meeting  of  14 
June,  1764,  immediately  upon  Dr.  Smith's  return,  he  was  joined 
with  Messrs.  Coxe,  Willing  and  Strettell  in  a  "  Committee  to 
consider  what  could  be  done  with  the  new  Buildings,  so  that 
they  may  bring  in  an  annual  Revenue,  agreeable  to  the  Institu- 
tion." Their  report,  a  lengthy  one,  is  entered  on  the  Minutes 
of  1 1  September.  Some  extracts  from  this  may  afford  us  a  view 


11  News  of  his  arrival  in  England  did  not  reach  Philadelphia  for  three  months. 
Penna.  Gazette,  14  March,  1765.  Dr.  Cadwalader  Evans  writes  him  15  March,  "the 
most  agreeable  news  of  your  arrival  in  London  occasioned  a  great  and  general 
joy  in  Pennsylvania  among  those  whose  esteem  an  honest  man  would  value  most. 
The  bells  rang  on  that  account  till  near  midnight,  and  libations  were  poured  out  for 
your  health,  success,  and  every  other  happiness.  Even  your  old  friend  Hugh  Roberts 
stayed  with  us  till  eleven  o'clock,  which  you  know  was  a  little  out  of  his  common 
road,  and  gave  us  many  curious  anecdotes  within  the  compass  of  your  forty  years' 
acquaintance."  Sparks  vii.  283. 


444       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

of  the  designs  of  the  Trustees  for  the  accommodation  of  their 
pupils  and  of  their  endeavors  to  measure  them  by  the  limits  of 
their  financial  ability,  as  also  some  knowledge  of  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  Buildings. 

With  Respect  to  the  Buildings,  there  are  Sixteen  lodging  Rooms  in 
the  two  upper  Stories,  which  we  think  may  contain  about  fifty  Boys, 
without  being  more  crowded  than  in  the  Jersey  College,  which  Dr  Alison 
and  Mr  Kinnersley  have  visited  on  purpose  to  gain  the  necessary  infor- 
mation. 

That  we  think  the  eight  rooms  in  the  second  story  may  be  charged  at 
six  pounds  each  room,  and  the  eight  rooms  in  the  third  story  at  five  pounds 
each,  so  that  these  two  upper  stories  will  produce  a  clear  Rent  of  eighty 
eight  Pounds  per  Annum,  exclusive  of  a  double  room  on  the  first  floor  for 
the  Charity  Boys,  which  at  the  same  Rate  is  worth  twelve  Pounds  per 
annum.  Of  the  three  other  Rooms  on  the  first  floor  one  is  a  Kitchen,  the 
other  is  a  Dining  Room  and  the  third  (where  the  Charity  Girls  are)  should 
be  left  as  a  Store  Room  and  as  a  Sitting  Room  for  the  use  of  the  Steward, 
as  the  Girls  cannot  either  in  Decency  or  Prudence  be  kept  there  after  the 
Youth  are  collected  into  a  Collegiate  Way  of  Life  ;  nor  do  we  find  that 
the  Charity  Girls  are  any  way  included  in  the  original  Plan  of  the  Insti- 
tution, nor  were  admitted  into  it,  till  the  Month  of  December,  1753. 

That  with  Respect  to  the  rest  of  the  (Economy  of  the  House,  it  is  to 
be  kept  entirely  on  a  separate  Footing,  and  will  be  no  expence  to  the 
Trustees  after  the  first  Outset,  nor  any  way  mixt  with  their  Accounts  or 
Funds.  The  Plan  is  as  follows  : 

There  must  be  a  Steward,  a  Cook  and  an  Assistant,  who  is  also  to  be 
Bedmaker  and  to  sweep  the  rooms.  [After  enumerating  the  various  wages, 
from  the  Steward  down  who  was  to  have  forty  shillings  per  annum  for  each 
Boy  till  they  exceed  the  number  of  fifty,  the  report  proceeds.] 

In  Jersey's,  the  Commons,  one  year  with  another  are  from  ^17  to 
^18.  In  Philadelphia  from  the  great  Advantages  of  our  Markets  and 
buying  in  the  Gross,  we  think  our  Commons  will  come  as  cheap,  and  then 
the  whole  annual  Expence  will  be  as  follows  to  the  Boys  who  live  four  in  a 
room,  viz: 

To  Commons ,£18.0.0 

Steward 2.0.0 

Room  Rent  the  highest i.io. o 

Washing  and    Mending 2.12.0 

Servants'  Wages o.io. o 

Firewood  separate  from  the  schools o.  15.0 

Wear  of  Kitchen  Furniture   and   other  Con- 
tingencies   8.0         ,£25.15.0 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       445 

But  the  economies  had  to  be  carried  further.  The  funds  of 
the  institution  had  so  narrowed,  partly  by  the  lessening  value  of 
money,  that  closer  calculations  had  now  to  be  made  than  had 
ever  before  been  entered  upon. 

Fourth.   As  to  savings,  we  think  the  following  may  be  made  in  the 
general  plan,  viz  : 

We    commonly    lay  in  eighty   Cords  of  Wood,     which    with    Hauling, 
Sawing  &c.  is    ......................  ,£80 

Of  which  the  Scholars  pay  6s.  per  annum  at    150  boys    ......       45 


Loss  by  Firewood 

Seventy  Cords  may  serve  us  ;  let  every  Boy  pay  for  half  a  Cord,  as  is  done 
in  every  School  in  Town  for  Winter  Firewood,  and  here  we  may 
save  ..........................  ^35 

We  have  had  two  writing  Masters,  one  at  sixty  and  one  at  seventy  pounds 
per  annum  ;  whereas  we  well  know  that  one  has  sufficiently  done  the 
business  ;  allow  £10  for  extraordinary  services,  his  salary  will 
be  ...........................  /yo 

Here  we  may  save    ......................  ^60 

Let  the  Master  of  the  Mathematical  School  be  for  some  years  (as  now)  an 
unmarried  Man,  and  an  hundred  pounds  will  be  an  honorable  support 
to  him  ;  whereas  ,£150  can  hardly  maintain  a  Family.  Here  we  may 
save  ^50.  or  at  least  we  may  save  .............  ,£25 

Let  the  Scholars,  as  is  usual  in  all  Schools  and  Colleges,  pay  for  their 
Quills,  Ink,  broken  glass,  and  for  a  servant  to  ring  the  Bell  and  make 
their  Fires,  we  will  save  .................  £22 

The  Rent  of  the  new  College  may  be  .............         88 


Savings     ..........................  ,£230 

This  sum  may  be  saved  without  any  Debate  or  ground  of  uneasiness. 
A  School  for  Girls  was  never  a  part  of  our  original  Plan,  it  is  unbe- 
coming and  indecent  to  have  Girls  among  our  Students  ;  it  is  a  Reproach 
to  our  Institution,  and  were  our  Friends  able  to  support  them,  as  they  are 
not,  they  should  be  removed  to  another  part  of  the  City. 
This  school  removed  you  will  save  by  the  House  for  the  Mistress  and  the 
School    ......................  ^15 

By  Firewood  for  her  and  them      .............       10 

By  her  Wages    ....................       45 

By  Wages  to  her  Assistant  when  she  has  one  .......       10 


Add      .........................       ,£230 


Sum  Total  may  be  saved 

Equal  to  ,£5180  added  to  our  present  Stock. 


446       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA. 

Sixth.  As  to  the  Boys'  Charity  School,  we  think  many  of  them  are 
taken  in  too  young,  and  many  of  them  kept  too  long,  and  also  that  their 
Number  has  exceeded  the  original  Intention,  and  many  Persons,  who  are 
not  entitled  to  charity,  send  their  children  to  that  School  ;  all  of  which  we 
are  of  opinion  should  be  regulated. 

The  beginnings  were  now  made  to  sever  the  College  from 
the  Charity  Schools,  which  latter  had  been  so  popular  a  feature 
of  the  institution  at  its  inception.  But  at  the  next  meeting,  on  9 
October,  Messrs.  Coxe  and  Strettell  reported  : 

they  had  perused  the  Minutes  and  consulted  some  of  the  Members 
concerned  in  the  original  plan  of  this  Institution  and  are  of  opinion  that  it 
was  part  of  the  said  plan  to  educate  thirty  poor  girls  besides  having  a 
school  for  poor  boys,  [and  the  Trustees  agreed]  that  the  Girls'  school  should 
be  continued  &  limited  to  that  Number  and  that  no  girls  be  admitted  into 
it  for  the  future  otherwise  than  by  a  special  order  of  the  Trustees  at  their 
usual  meetings.  But  it  is  judged  convenient  to  remove  the  Girls'  School  as 
soon  as  possible  to  a  proper  Distance  from  the  College . 

But  the  Charity  Schools  could  only  be  maintained  by  the 
public  generosity ;  Mr.  Whitefield's  sermon  in  the  previous 
October,  which  drew  a  handsome  sum,  was  supplemented  on 
10  April  following  by  the  performance  in  the  College  Hall  of 

a  solemn  Entertainment  of  Music,  under  the  Direction  of  Mr  Bremner, 
interspersed  with  Orations  by  some  of  the  young  Students.  The  whole  was 
conducted  with  great  Order  and  Decorum,  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  polite  and 
numerous  audience  ;  by  which  near  one  Hundred  and  Thirty  Pounds  was 
raised  for  the  Benefit  of  the  Charity  Schools  belonging  to  the  said  College.1 

The  Trustees  agreed  to  the  committee's  recommendations 
relative  to  the  CEconomy  and  Management  of  the  New  Build- 
ings, subject  to  such  Amendments  and  Regulations  as  future 
Circumstances  might  render  necessary,  and  they  appointed  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  Steward. 

A  public  announcement  of  the  readiness  of  the  Buildings  for  oc- 
cupants, for  the  waiting  scholars  were  not  at  once  attracted  to  them, 
was  made  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  3 1  January,  following  : 

College  of  Philadelphia  January  31,  1765 

It  having  been  represented  some  years  ago,  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
College,  Academy  and  Charitable  School  of  Philadelphia,  that  many  per- 
sons, at  a  Distance  from  the  City,  would  more  willingly  send  their  Children 


^Pennsylvania  Gazette,  1 8  April,  1765. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        447 

to  this  Seminary,  if  they  could  be  lodged  and  boarded  in  a  Collegiate 
Way,  under  the  immediate  Care  and  Inspection  of  the  Professors  and 
Masters  ;  by  which  it  was  hoped  the  Youth  would  make  greater  Proficiency 
in  their  Studies,  and  the  Expence  be  considerably  less. 

The  Trustees  do,  therefore,  now  give  Notice,  that  a  New  Building  is 
completely  finished  as  a  Wing  to  the  College,  capable  of  accomodating 
about  Sixty  Students,  and  that  the  Rev  Mr  EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY,  one  of 
the  Professors,  a  Gentleman  of  regular  and  exemplary  Life,  hath  under- 
taken the  particular  Management  and  Stewardship  of  the  same.  A  Num- 
ber of  the  Senior  Students  and  Scholars  are  now  entered  into  this  Building; 
and  Parents  residing  at  a  Distance  are  hereby  acquainted  that  their 
Children,  being  ten  or  eleven  Years  of  Age,  or  upwards  will  be  admitted 
into  it,  and  the  Greatest  Care  taken  of  their  Health,  Morals  and  Education. 
For,  besides  the  general  Inspection  committed  to  Mr  Kinnersley,  the 
Trustees  visit  every  Month  ;  the  Provost,  Vice  Provost,  and  Professors  will 
also  take  their  weekly  Turns  in  Visiting  ;  and  the  Ushers  of  the  several 
Schools  lodge  and  board  with  the  Youth  in  the  said  Building,  to  preserve 
the  greater  Decorum  and  Order.  The  plentiful  and  commodious  Market, 
with  which  this  City  is  blest,  will  give  an  opportunity  of  providing  every 
Thing  good  in  its  Kind  ;  and  as  a  regular  Account  of  the  whole  will  be 
kept  by  Mr  Kinnersley  and  (after  Examination  by  the  Trustees  or  Masters) 
proportioned  Quarterly  among  the  Youth,  without  any  other  Charge  than 
the  prime  Cost  of  Provisions  and  Firewood,  with  the  stated  Fees  to  the 
Steward  and  Servants,  it  is  hoped  that  the  Youth  will  be  accomodated  in 
the  most  easy  and  reasonable  Terms.  But  if  there  should  be,  nevertheless, 
any  Parents  at  a  Distance,  who  may  have  any  Person  in  Town,  with  whom 
they  would  particularly  chuse  to  entrust  their  Children  as  private  Lodgers, 
it  is  not  intended,  by  this  public  Plan,  to  prevent  such  Persons  from 
following  their  own  inclination  in  this  Respect  ;  the  Trustees  being  ever 
desirous  so  to  manage  the  Institution,  as  that  the  greatest  Good  may  be 
done  thereby. 

Some  questions  arising  upon  the  powers  and  duties  of  Mr 
Kinnersley  in  this  government  of  the  collegiate  family  he 
solicited  from  the  Trustees  an  explanation  and  definition  of  these, 
and  at  their  meeting  of  19  November,  1765,  they 

think  it  necessary  in  general  to  declare,  that  as  they  cannot,  without 
further  Trial,  frame  Rules  that  may  provide  against  all  possible  cases,  it 
was  their  Intention  to  give  Mr  Kinnersley  all  the  Powers  necessary  for  pre- 
serving good  Order  among  the  Youth  in  the  said  Buildings  ;  and  that  he 
may  and  ought  in  ordinary  Cases  to  exercise  such  Discretionary  Authority 
as  a  Father  would  in  the  government  of  his  own  Family  ;  and  in  difficult 
cases  to  take  the  Advice  and  Assistance  of  the  Faculty  of  Masters,  or  to 
consult  the  Trustees  when  the  case  may  require  it. 


448        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

To  get  some  light  on  the  mode  of  life  in  the  New  Buildings 
and  the  needful  Regulations  governing  the  students,  we  have  to 
await  the  proceedings  of  the  Trustees  for  more  than  four  years, 
and  it  is  not  until  the  meeting  of  17  October,  1767,  that  we  find 
any  reference  to  the  "Collegiate  way  of  living"  of  the  under- 
graduates. The  minute  recites  "the  ceconomy  and  manage- 
ment of  the  New  Buildings  to  be  taken  into  Consideration  at 
next  meeting,  complaint  having  been  made  that  sufficient  care 
was  not  taken  to  keep  the  younger  part  of  the  Lodgers  clean ;" 
and  "  Dr.  Shippen  and  Mr.  Inglis  are  appointed  to  inquire  into 
the  Complaints,"  but  these  gentlemen's  "  report  thereon  "  was 
not  ready  before  the  meeting  of  15  December,  1767,  when  it 
was  submitted  as  follows,  presenting  a  curious  picture  of  the 
personal  habits  of  the  lads  : 

They  have  visited  the  Lodgers  and  Apartments  in  the  new  Buildings, 
and  had  read  the  original  Regulations  made  for  their  Management 
and  Government,  from  which  it  appears,  that  the  care  of  the  Boys  with 
respect  to  their  Linnen,  Combing  their  Heads  and  other  matters,  in  which 
the  younger  part  of  them  could  not  be  trusted  to  themselves,  had  always 
been  considered  as  part  of  the  Steward' s  Duty,  for  the  Allowance  made  to 
Him.  And  that  Mr  Kinnersley  had  assured  them  that  he  had  always  taken 
care  to  see  that  their  Chambers  were  kept  clean,  and  that  Mrs  Kinnersley 
sends  for  the  smaller  Boys  twice  every  Week  to  have  their  Heads  combed, 
and  that  every  Monday  they  are  ordered  to  bring  their  dirty  Linnen  to  her, 
with  a  List  of  them,  to  be  given  out  to  be  washed,  and  that  she  receives  them 
back  according  to  the  list.  They  report  further  that  on  visiting  the  Rooms, 
they  found  them  clean,  and  the  Provisions  good  that  were  intended  for 
that  Day's  Dinner.  And  as  Mr  Kinnersley  engages  to  continue  his 
utmost  care  in  these  matters,  they  think  there  can  be  no  just  ground  for 
Complaint. 

The  readiness  of  Mr.  Kinnersley,  and  his  willingness,  to 
serve  the  College  in  all  practical  matters  as  well  as  professional, 
led  the  Trustees  often  to  make  use  of  his  abilities  in  this  way. 
And  for  the  "  attendance  and  service  of  a  Negro  "  of  his  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Buildings,  he  had  been  compensated  to  the  extent 
of  £12  per  annum,  which  arrangement  had  begun  as  early  as 
April,  1767  ;  he  was  thus  probably  the  only  slave-holding  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty;  certainly  the  only  one  whose  chattel  was 
for  a  consideration  in  the  employ  of  the  College. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        449 


LXXIII. 

On  Dr.  Smith's  return  in  June,  1764,  he  found  that  the 
places  of  four  of  the  original  Trustees  had  been  filled.  Messrs. 
Leech,  Strettell,  and  M'Call  had  died,  and  Mr.  Taylor  had 
"departed  out  of  this  Province."  In  their  places  were  elected 
Mr.  Lynford  Lardner,  a  councillor,  Mr.  Amos  Strettell,1  Dr. 
John  Redman  and  Mr.  Andrew  Elliot.2 

MR.  LARDNER  was  a  native  of  England ;  his  sister  Hannah 
was  the  wife  of  Richard  Penn,  and  coming  to  America  in  1740, 
he  was  made  Councillor  in  1755  ;  and  died  in  1774  aged  59 
years. 

MR.  STRETTELL,  the  son  of  Robert  Strettell,  was  born  in 
Dublin  in  1720,  and  came  to  America  a  lad;  he  died  in  1780 
aged  59  years. 

DR.  JOHN  REDMAN  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  37  February, 
1722,  a  "  descendant  of  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  State." 
After  completing  his  classical  education  in  the  Rev.  William 
Tennent's  Academy,  otherwise  known  as  the  Log  College, 
which  was  opened  in  1735  by  Tennent,  pastor  of  the  Neshaminy 
Church  in  Bucks  County,  Pennsylvania,  "  where  for  some  twenty 
years  he  continued  to  gather  about  him  a  body  of  choice  young 
men  and  to  train  tHem  for  the  service  of  the  church  and  of 
society  ;3  young  Redman  began  the  study  of  physic  with  Mr. 
John  Kearsley,  a  physician  of  high  standing  in  Philadelphia.  After 
beginning  the  practice  of  his  profession  he  went  to  Bermuda 
where  he  passed  many  years,  and  thence  went  to  Europe,  pass- 
ing a  year  at  Edinburgh  at  the  medical  school,  and  another  year 
at  Guy's  Hospital,  London,  and  also  some  time  in  Paris.  He 
took  his  degree  at  the  University  of  Leyden  in  1748.  On  his 
return  soon  after  to  his  native  city,  he  in  a  short  time  earned  a 
high  reputation  as  a  skilful  physician  and  secured  a  profitable 
practice ;  the  delicacy  of  his  health  prevented  him  practicing 
surgery  for  which  he  had  prepared  himself. 


'8  June,  1762.  J 12  Dec.,  1762.  s  Wickersham,  453. 


45O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

He  was  elected  one  of  the  physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  soon  after  its  establishment,  and  became  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  the  College  of  Physicians.  He  was  elected  14  Decem- 
ber, 1762,  a  Trustee  of  the  Academy  and  College  in  the  vacancy 
made  by  the  death  of  Samuel  M'Call  jr.  and  was  retired  in  1791. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
of  which  he  was  elected  an  elder  in  1784.  Having  obtained  a 
competency  from  his  profession,  he  gave  up  its  active  practice 
in  mid-life.  His  private  life  it  is  said  was  a  picture  of  beauty,  for 
he  had  a  warm  heart  for  all  those  connected  with  him  by  blood 
or  affinity,  possessed  with  much  humility,  and  faithful  in  all  his 
religious  duties,  was  of  good  sense  and  learning,  and  much 
respected  by  all.  In  his  older  years  he  clung  to  the  habits  and 
the  customs  of  former  years,  and  a  picture  of  him  in  the  Ridg- 
way  Library  portrays  him  in  his  wig  with  more  humor  than 
truth  ;  and  his  quaintness  was  equalled  by  his  sincerity. 

Of  his  marriage,  his  two  sons  died  in  infancy  ;  of  his  two 
daughters  one  married  in  1770,  Daniel  Coxe,  of  New  Jersey, 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  that  Province,  and  who  continuing 
an  adherent  of  the  Crown  soon  went  to  England,  whither  his 
wife  and  children  followed  him  in  1785,  and  Dr.  Redman  did 
not  see  her  again  until  her  return  to  America  in  1807  with  her 
children.  He  did  not  long  survive  to  enjoy  this  restored  com- 
panionship of  his  sole  surviving  child,  and  died  on  19  March, 
1808.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  grandson  Dr.  John 
Redman  Coxe  a  Trustee  of  the  University  to  which  he  was 
elected  in  1806. 

ANDREW  ELLIOT  was  the  son  of  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  Lord  Jus- 
tice Clerk  of  Scotland,  and  the  son-in-law  of  William  Plumsted, 
a  Trustee,  but  did  not  serve  long,  as  he  was  commissioned,  in 
January,  1764,  Collector  of  Customs  of  New  York,  whither  he 
removed  ;  and  on  1 1  September  following  his  trust  was  declared 
vacant,  and  Governor  Penn  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  After 
the  Revolution  he  left  New  York,  and  died  at  his  place  near 
Edinburgh,  in  1787. 

It  was    in    this    month   of    September    that    Dr.    Smith 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        45  I 

attended  "  a  convention  of  the  clergy  of  New  Jersey,  and 
some  of  their  Brethren  from  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  held 
at  Perth  Amboy  "  and  presided  at  it,  as  he  had  at  the  Conven- 
tions of  the  clergy  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1760  and  I76i.4  His 
activities  could  not  find  their  limits  ;  and  these  diversions — as 
they  may  be  termed — from  his  duties  in  a  "  collegiate  way," 
while  bringing  him  in  close  association  with  his  cotemporaries 
may  have  consumed  time  which  the  College  might  have  claimed, 
especially  after  his  long  absence  from  it.  The  Convention  at 
Perth  Amboy,  of  1764,  took  some  notice  of  charges  preferred 
against  a  missionary,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Morton,  who  had  been 
a  Tutor  in  the  College  from  March,  1753,  to  October,  I759-5  It 
was  at  the  close  of  the  year  1764  that  Dr.  Smith  met  Colonel 
Bouquet  on  his  return  from  his  successful  expedition  against 
the  Ohio  Indians,  and  undertook  to  write  for  him  an  Historical 
Account  of  it  from  the  Journals  and  other  papers  which  Bouquet 
furnished  him  for  that  purpose.  This  came  from  the  press  of  Wil- 
liam Bradford  in  1765,  and  the  title  page  bore  on  it,  Published 
from  Authentic  Documents,  by  a  Lover  of  his  Country^  Many  years 
elapsed  before  the  Author  was  knowti.  The  book  was  eagerly 
sold,  and  in  the  year  following  a  handsome  quarto  edition  was 
published  in  London,  and  later  it  met  with  editions  at  Paris  and 
Amsterdam.  Dr.  Smith's  Introduction  added  to  the  value  of 
the  work,  as  it  made  a  very  entertaining  narrative  of  the  Indian 
wars  immediately  preceding  the  time  of  Bouquet's  expedition, 
and  contributed  to  our  Colonial  history  a  chapter  as  interesting 
as  it  was  reliable.  No  one  in  the  province,  it  was  recognized,  was 
so  capable  of  editing  Bouquet's  materials  as  Dr.  Smith,  whose 
constant  interest  in  local  politics  had  kept  him  well  informed  on 
all  subjects  which  affected  the  welfare  of  the  community,  whether 
from  within  or  from  without. 


*  At  this  Convention  "  Dr.  Smith  produced  a  plan  of  a  corresponding  society 
in  America  agreed  to  by  the  Venerable  Society  in  England,  but  as  he  said  sent  over  to 
the  clergy  here  for  their  opinion,"  which  was  also  urged  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Auchmuty  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,  but  proved  unacceptable  to  the  other  clergy.  Letter  of 
Rev.  H ugh  Neill.  Perry's  Historical  Collections  ii.  304. 

'Smith,  i.  384. 


452          HISTORY    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXXIV. 

It  has  been  seen  that  no  Commencement  was  held  in  1764  ; 
but  that  of  1765  was  made  attractive  and  interesting.  On  30 
May  some  of  the  Trustees  and  Faculty  met  for  the  purpose  and 

the  Trustees  then  proceeded  to  the  public  Hall  and  several  more  of  their 
Body  at  different  Times  attended  during  the  Day.  The  Provost,  Vice  Pro- 
vost and  Professors,  followed  by  the  Candidates  and  Students  entered  next 
in  their  proper  Habits  and  at  10  o'clock  the  Solemnity  was  begun  by  the 
Provost,  with  part  of  the  Church  Prayers,  and  an  occasional  Prayer  for  the 
King,  the  Royal  Family,  the  Benefactors  of  the  College,  for  the  whole 
Church  of  Christ  and  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  useful  Science. 

There  were  seven  graduates  in  course :  Alexander  Alex- 
ander, who  had  been  a  Tutor  since  January,  1764;  Benjamin 
Alison,  son  of  the  Vice-Provost ;  John  Andrews,  of  Maryland, 
who  became  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  1789  and  died  as 
Provost  in  1813  ;  Thomas  Dungan,  appointed  a  Tutor  in  Janu- 
ary, 1764,  who  became  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  1766  ; 
John  Patterson,  who  became  Tutor  at  the  same  time  ;  James 
Sayres,  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  who  took  orders  in  the  Church  of 
England,  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  of  Kings  College  in 
1774,  became  Chaplain  in  De  Lancey's  Brigade,  and  died  at 
Fairfield,  Connecticut  in  1798;  and  William  White,  the  only 
son  of  a  Trustee,  himself  elected  a  Trustee  in  1774,  Treasurer 
for  three  years  from  October  1775,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  in  1790  and  1791,  and  well  known  as  the  first 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  great  organizer  of  the  American 
Church  upon  its  severance  from  the  Church  of  England, T  whose 
episcopacy  he  brought  hither  in  conjunction  with  Samuel  Provost 
of  New  York  in  1787,  and  whose  Liturgy  in  its  adaptation  to 
the  new  circumstances  in  which  the  Church  now  found  itself, 
William  Smith,  the  Provost  of  the  College,  had  more  influence 
in  shaping  than  any  other  of  its  ministry.  The  Provost  and  his 
young  pupil  formed  at  College  an  acquaintance  which  ripened 


1  "  The  venerable  father  of  our  Church,"   so  termed  by  Bishop  Hobart  in  his 
Address  to  the  New  York  Convention  of  1826. 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       453 

into  a  long  friendship,  and  in  the  ecclesiastical  claims  of  the 
times  which  were  now  dawning  upon  them,  William  Smith 
found  in  William  White  a  diligent  and  judicious  colaborer,  and 
in  personal  matters  a  patient  and  considerate  friend,  one  to  whose 
hands  he  finally  committed  his  selected  works  for  publication 
wlien  he  found  the  end  of  his  busy  life  approaching. 

The  Degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  in  course 
upon  the  Rev.  Samuel  Keene  of  the  class  of  1759,  on  Messrs. 
Grimes,  Kinnersley,  McHenry,  Peters,  and  Yeates  of  1761, 
Cooke,  Jones,  Porter,  and  Watts  of  1762,  and  Anderson,  Davis, 
Johnston,  Lang,  and  Porter  of  1763.  Messrs.  Huston,  Ogden 
and  Waddell  of  1761  and  Hunt  of  1763,  applied  too  late  for 
their  Degrees.  "But,"  as  the  Minute  has  it,  "the  Mandate 
being  filled  up,  the  Company  waiting  in  the  Hall,  and  no  Time 
to  get  a  new  Mandate  written  or  signed  by  thirteen  Trustees 
according  to  Charter,  it  was  resolved  that  these  gentlemen 
could  not  be  admitted  at  this  Time,  and  ought  to  have  applied 
sooner."  The  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred 
upon  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Evans, 

although  he  had  not  received  the  previous  degree  of  Bachelor,  on  account 
of  the  interruption  in  his  studies  during  the  season  which  was  spent  in  the 
counting  house2  as  a  mark  of  their  Attention  and  Regard  to  his  promising 
Genius  and  great  merit; 

and  on  Robert  Strettell  Jones,  the  son  of  Isaac  Jones  who 
became  a  Trustee  in  1771,  and  the  grandson  of  Robert  Strettell 
a  Trustee. 

Dr.  Smith  records  the  events  of  the  day  in  the  Minutes, 
and  his  narration  of  them  is  so  interesting  as  to  bear  their 
reproduction. 

The  Forenoon's  Exercises  were :  I.  Salutatory  oration,  by  Mr  Alexan- 
der. 2.  Forensic  Dispute,  "  Whether  the  Planets  be  inhabited."  3.  Verses 
on  Science,  written  and  spoken  by  Mr  Evans.  4.  A  Syllogistic  Dispute, 
"  Utrum,  Sublato  Statu  futuro,  maneat  satis  firma  ad  Virtutem  obligatio  ? ' ' 

5.  The  first  part  of  Dr  Morgan's  inaugural  Oration. The   weather 

being  very  warm,  the  remainder  was  adjourned  to  Friday  Forenoon,  May 


2  Smith,  i.  480.     Minutes  3  May,  1765. 


454        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

3 1 st.  After  Prayer,  this  Day's  Business  proceeded  as  follows:  i .  A  For- 
ensic Dispute,  "Whether  the  present  Situation  of  the  Earth,  or  the  inclina- 
tion of  its  axis  to  the  Plane  of  the  Ecliptic,  could  be  changed  for  the 
better  ? ' '  The  Bachelors'  Degrees  were  conferred,  as  in  the  above  List. 
2.  A  Speech  on  the  Beauty  and  Order  of  the  Creation,  by  Mr  William 
White.  The  Masters'  Degrees  conferred  as  in  the  above  List  and  Mr  Sayre 
spoke  the  Salutatory  Oration.  3.  The  Provost  then  delivered  a  speech,  in 
which  he  gave  an  interesting  but  brief  account  of  the  present  state  of  the 
Institution  and  with  becoming  Gratitude,  mentioned  the  Kind  Patronage  of 
his  sacred  Majesty,  the  hon'ble  Proprietors,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  the  noble  Benefactions  he  had  received  in  England,  by  which  the  Col- 
lege is  now  placed  on  a  more  secure  and  lasting  Foundation  ;  concluding 
the  whole  with  an  affectionate  address  to  the  young  Gentlemen  who  had 
taken  the  Bachelors'  Degree.  Dr  Morgan  then  finished  the  Remainder  of 
his  learned  and  elaborate  Oration  ;  and  the  whole  Business  was  concluded 
with  a  Dialogue,  Air,  and  Chorus  suitable  to  the  Occasion,  the  Dialogue 
spoken  by  Mr  R.  Peters  and  Mr  W.  Kinnersley  with  great  Propriety,  and 
the  air  by  Mr  Bankson  in  the  sweetest  and  most  delicate  manner.  The 
Vice  Provost  dismissed  the  Audience  with  Prayers,  and  the  young  Gentle- 
men in  their  several  parts  of  the  Exercises  did  Honor  to  the  Institution,  the 
whole  being  conducted  with  the  Utmost  regularity  and  Ease,  without  the 
least  confusion  or  Mistake.3 

Dr.  Smith  had  desired  the  presence  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield 
at  this  Commencement  and  invited  him  to  preach  a  sermon  on  the 
occasion,  but  his  farewell  sermon  he  had  preached  in  St.  Paul's 
Church  on  22  May  and  on  the  24th  he  left  Philadelphia.4 
He  had  however,  in  writing  on  the  8th  of  this  month  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Propagation  Society,  used  the  following  language  : 
"  Mr.  Whitfield  is  here,  but  will  receive  no  invitation  from  us 
to  preach  in  our  Churches,  being  determined  to  observe  the  same 
conduct  as  when  he  was  here  in  October  last,  which  our  super- 
iors in  England  have  approved."5  But  the  Provost  could  rightly 
pursue  a  line  of  action  with  this  great  preacher  in  the  building 
whose  deed  contained  a  proviso  that  he  should  preach  there  at 
will,  different  from  that  of  a  Church  of  England  divine  in  admitting 


3  The  Solo  air  on  Peace  was  sung  by  Master  Bankson  of  the  junior  Philosophy 
Class  with  such  an  exquisite  sweetness  and  Delicacy  of  Voice  that  the  whole  audi- 
ence was  charmed  with  the  Performance.  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  6  June,  1765. 

^Pennsylvania  Gazette.     Smith,  i.  363. 

0  Smith,  i.  384. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       455 

him  within  the  bounds  of  his  parish.  The  staunch  Hugh  Neill 
from  his  rectory  at  Oxford  wrote  to  the  Society  in  October, 
1764,  of 

the  powerful  efforts  that  Mr  Whitfield  is  now  making  in  Philadelphia  and 
places  adjacent.  St.  Paul's,  the  College,  and  Presbyterian  Meeting  houses 
were  open  to  him  ;  but  the  Salutary  admonitions  of  His  Grace  of  Canter- 
bury to  the  Rector  &c  of  Christ  Church  and  St  Peter's  has  prevented  his 
preaching  at  this  time  in  either  of  them.6 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  this  good  missionary  was 
succeeded  in  this  Oxford  cure  sixteen  months  later  by  William 
Smith,  the  Provost.7 


6  Letter  1 8  October,   1764,   in  Perry's  Historical  Collection,  ii.  363.     Yet  we 
find  it    in  the    year   before  Whitfield  had  preached  in  the  Churches,  and  this  per- 
haps had  brought  the  admonition   which  led  to  the  present  inhibition.     Dr.  Peters 
wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  17  October,  1763,  of  the  request  his  Church 
Wardens  and  others  made  of  him  to  allow  the  great  preacher  in  Christ  Church,  and 
said,   "therefore  after  Mr.  Whitfield  has  shown  his  regard  to  the  Government  by 
waiting  on  the  Governor,  and  had  paid  me   likewise  a  very  kind  and  polite  visit,  I 
invited  him  to  preach  in  the  Old  Church  the  first  Sunday  his  health  would  permit,  and 
he  has  preached  four  times  in  one  or  other  of  the  Churches  without  any  of  his  usual 
censures  of  the  clergy  and  with  a  greater  moderation  of  sentiment     *     *     *     and  I 
am  in  hopes  his  stay  will  be  attended  rather  with  good  than  harm  to  the  Churches." 
»•  393- 

7  "  I  have  in  several  late  letters  informed  you  that  since  Mr.  Neill's  departure 
in  October  last,  I  have  twice  in  three  weeks  supplied  the  Mission  at  Oxford  in  order 
to  prevent  that  old  and  respectable  Mission  from  dwindling  away,  and  as  the  act  of 
our  Assembly  which  was  made  for  selling  the  old  and  purchasing  the  new  Glebe, 
required  that  there  should  be  a  Minister  to  constitute  a  Vestry  and  do  any  legal  act, 
I  was  obliged  last  February  to  let  the  people  nominate  me  their  Minister  in  order 
that  we  might  proceed  to  get  possession  of  the  Glebe  for  the  use  of  the  church,  and  I 
accordingly  consented  to  supply  them  for  one  year,  or  till  you  appoint  another,  unless 
so  far  as  Mr.  Peters'  indisposition  might  require  my  assistance  in  Town,  which  has 
been  but  seldom  till  within  these  few  weeks  past."     Letter  I  September,  1767.     In 
Dr.  Buchanan's  Early  History  of  Trinity  Church,    Oxford,    1885.     Dr.  Buchanan 
says,   "  he  continued  to  officiate  here,  certainly  till   1770,  and,  most  probably,  for 
several  years  longer."  p.  32. 


456       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXXV. 

The  commencement  of  1766  was  a  notable  one  as  it  was  the 
occasion  of  the  presentation  of  the  Sargent  Medal,  already  noted, 
and  as  the  news  of  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  on  1 8  March  had 
reached  the  city  but  the  day  before.  The  deep  interest  taken  by 
all  classes  of  the  community  in  this  unfortunate  Act,  which  for 
the  time  seemed  to  unite  all  the  better  classes  against  an  unjust 
and  unmerited  tax,  had  stirred  up  the  feelings  of  the  people  to  a 
pitch  of  excitement  and  indeed  anxiety  which  was  without  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  Pennsylvania  and  its  sister  provinces.1 
Even  those  who  afterwards  held  back  from  joining  in  the  legit- 
imate consequences  of  this  malicious  proceeding  which  nec- 
essarily had  led  to  a  surrender  by  the  government  to  colonial 
clamor,  thus  opening  the  eyes  of  the  colonists  to  their  strength 
if  united,  were  all  now  of  one  mind  with  the  most  active  and 
restless  of  those  who  foresaw  that  the  connection  with  the  home 
country  was  being  strained  almost  to  rupture.  Dr.  Smith  had 
written  on  18  December,  1765,  to  Dr.  Tucker,  the  Dean  of 
Gloucester,  in  the  following  decided  language  : 

With  regard  to  the  Stamp  Act,  or  any  act  of  Parliament  to  take 
money  out  of  our  pockets,  otherwise  than  by  our  own  representatives  in  our 
Colony  legislatures,  it  will  ever  be  looked  upon  so  contrary  to  the  faith  of 
charters  and  the  inherent  rights  of  Englishmen,  that  amongst  a  people 
planted,  and  nursed,  and  educated  in  the  high  principles  of  liberty,  it  must 
be  considered  as  a  badge  of  disgrace,  impeaching  their  loyalty,  nay,  their 
very  brotherhood  and  affinity  to  Englishmen,  and  although  a  superior  force 
may,  and  perhaps  can,  execute  this  among  us,  yet  it  will  be  with  such  an 
alienation  of  the  affections  of  a  loyal  people,  and  such  a  stagnation  of  Eng- 
lish consumption  among  them,  that  the  experiment  can  never  be  worth  the 
risque. 2 


1  The  citizens  of  Philadelphia  united  in  the  resolve  to  import  no  British  goods, 
and  to  resort  to  more  frugal  ways  suitable  to  the  self  denying  times,  and  it  was  in  the 
midst  of  this  that  the  aged  Trustee  of  the  College,  William  Plumsted,  was  buried  at 
St.   Peter's  Church  in  August,  1765,  by  his  directions  "  without  pall  or  mourning 
dresses."     Watson  Annals,  ii.  269. 

2  Smith  i.  385.     Dr.  Tucker,  Dean  of  Gloucester,  had  publicly   charged  Dr. 
Franklin  with  soliciting  for  himself  or  for  a  friend  the  post  of  Stamp  Agent,  and  this 
led   to    a   demand  from  the  latter   for   a   retraction  which   was  ungraciously  given. 
Bigelowv.  285-292.     Sparks  i.  297  and  iv.  516-525. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        457 

The  seeds  of  "an  alienation  of  the  affections  of  a  loyal 
people"  were  however  planted,  and  had  germinated  ere  the 
Repeal  had  been  effected.  But  no  one  could  foresee  at  this 
juncture  the  extent  of  the  growth  of  this  alienation,  which  could 
have  but  one  legitimate  political  outcome,  and  this  was  reached 
in  a  short  decade.  The  excitement  in  the  colonies  was  not 
sufficiently  weighed  at  home.  Evil  as  the  Stamp  Act  was  in 
principle  and  unjustifiable  from  every  point  of  view,  even 
Franklin,  who  was  in  London  and  laboring  for  its  repeal,  had 
but  little  hopes  of  this  latter  for  a  long  time,  and  fully  expected 
the  British  Government  to  adhere  to  its  position.  After  the  pas- 
sage3 of  the  Act  he  wrote  on  1 1  July,  1765,  to  his  friend  Charles 
Thomson,  his  early  colaborer  in  the  Academy  and  College  : 4 

The  tide  was  too  strong  against  us.  *  *  *  We  might  as  well  have 
hindered  the  sun's  setting.  That  we  could  not  do.  But  since  it  is  down, 
my  friend,  and  it  may  be  long  before  it  rises  again,  let  us  make  as  good  a 
night  of  it  as  we  can.  We  may  still  light  candles.  Frugality  and  indus- 
try will  go  a  great  way  towards  indemnifying  us.  Idleness  and  pride  tax 
with  a  heavier  hand  than  kings  and  parliaments.  If  we  can  get  rid  of  the 
former,  we  may  easily  bear  the  latter. 

Absent  from  his  friends,  he  could  not  realize  the  force  of 
the  storm  arising  among  them  and  their  neighbors,  which 
could  only  feebly  be  portrayed  in  correspondence ;  but  he  was 
face  to  face  with  the  authorities  in  whom  he  saw  no  relenting, 
and  prudent  man  as  he  was  he  for  a  while  accepted  the 
inevitable,  and  not  only  made  the  nomination  of  his  friend 
John  Hughes  as  the  Stamp  distributer  in  Philadelphia,  but 
prepared  to  supply  his  partner  in  Philadelphia  with  stamped 
paper  at  a  considerable  outlay. 

Ere,  however,  the  1st  November  came,  on  which  date  the 
Act  was  to  go  in  force,  the  popular  storm  came  and  reached 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  Franklin  used  its  elements  with  effect. 
He  wrote  to  Charles  Thomson  on  27  February,  1766  : 

I  have  reprinted  everything  from  America,  that  I  thought  might  help 


*On  22  March,  1765. 

4  Bigelow   iii.   400.     See  Mr.  Bigelow's  footnote  on  this   interesting  passage, 
p.  401 ;  also  Bancroft,  History  v.  306. 


458        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

our  common  cause.  We  at  length,  after  a  long  and  hard  struggle,  have 
gained  so  much  ground,  that  there  is  now  little  doubt  the  Stamp  Act  will 
be  repealed.5 

He  gathered  this  not  only  from  the  debates  in  Parliament ; 
he  could  recognize  in  the  course  of  his  famous  examination  a 
few  days  before  this  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  his  replies 
to  their  queries  were  having  their  effect  on  his  auditors  : 

The  promptness  and  pertinency  with  which  he  replied  to  every  ques- 
tion, the  perfect  knowledge  of  the  subject  manifested  in  his  answers,  his 
enlarged  and  sound  views  of  political  and  commercial  affairs,  and  the  bold- 
ness and  candor  with  which  he  expressed  his  sentiments,  excited  the  sur- 
prise of  his  auditors,  and  were  received  with  admiration  by  the  public, 
when  the  results  of  the  examination  appeared  in  print.6 

Happy  indeed  was  the  coincidence  that  the  tidings  of  the 
repeal,  in  which  he  had  so  effectual  a  part,  reached  his  adopted 
city  in  time  for  his  partner  to  issue  a  supplement  (though  we  of 
to-day  would  call  it  an  extra),  copies  of  which  were  in  the  hands 
of  many  of  the  auditors  who  attended  the  glad  Commencement 
of  his  College  in  1766. 

The  young  graduates,  whose  Commencement  Day  had  thus 
a  historic  significance,  were  Robert  Andrews,  Phineas  Bond,  son 
of  Dr.  Phineas  Bond,  and  afterwards  British  Consul  in  Philadel- 
phia from  1791  to  1811,  Samuel  Boyd,  Thomas  Coombe,  after- 
wards taking  orders  in  the  Church  of  England,7  and  for  a  brief 
period  an  assistant  minister  at  Christ  Church,  Hans  Hamilton, 
Thomas  Hopkinson,  also  taking  orders,8  John  King,  Richard 
Lee,  John  Montgomery,  also  in  orders,9  Thomas  Read,  David 


5  Bigelow  iii.  457. 

6  Sparks  iv.  161-198.    Mr.  Vaughan's  Notes  fix  the  date  :  "  13  February,  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  having   passed  through  his   examination,  was  excepted  from  farther 
attendance." 

7  17  October,  1771. 

8  24  September,  1774. 

9  23  July,  1770.     He  settled  in  Maryland,  and  while  Rector  of  Shrewsbury 
Parish,  married  Margaret  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Walter  Dulany  and  niece  of  Hon. 
Daniel  Dulany.     Not  sympathizing  with  the  Revolution,  he  went  to  England  with  his 
family  in    1778   and  obtained  a   living  in  the  Diocese  of  Hereford,   subsequently 
becoming  Vicar  of  Ledbury  where  he  died  in  September,  1802,  aged  55  years.  From 
his  daughter  who  married  Rev.  James  Watts,  M.  A.,  who  succeeded   her  father  at 
Ledbury,   descended   her  grandson,     Rev.     Robert   Eyton,  M.  A.,   late   Canon  of 
Westminster. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        459 

Sample,  and  James  Tilghman,  twelve  in  all.  Montgomery  and 
Read  accepted  tutorships  in  the  College.  The  Master's  Degree 
was  conferred  on  Ogden  and  Waddell  of  the  class  of  1761  ;  and 
the  honorary  Master's  Degree  on  "  Joseph  Reed,  Esq.,  of 
Trenton,  and  Mr.  James  Wilson,  one  of  the  Tutors  in  this 
College,  in  regard  to  their  particular  Learning  and  merit." 
It  was  at  a  previous  meeting  that  Wilson  had  petitioned  for  this 
honor,  and  the  "Trustees  had  agreed  to  grant  him  the  same  in 
consideration  of  his  Merit  and  his  having  had  a  regular  Educa- 
tion in  the  universities  of  Scotland."  As  Professor  of  English 
Literature  in  1773,  and  the  first  Professor  of  Law  in  1790,  and 
thus  establishing  for  the  University  another  claim  for  its  larger 
title,  as  Dr.  Morgan  had  in  1768  in  opening  the  Medical  School 
first  developed  the  University  idea,  we  shall  learn  more  in  the 
progress  of  our  narrative  of  this  eminent  jurist  and  statesman.10 
Of  Joseph  Reed,  as  President  Reed,  we  shall  with  interest  learn 
more  of  the  man  upon  whom,  in  1779,  seemed  to  alight  the 
onus  of  breaking  the  College  charter  of  1775  ;  yet  when  we 
reach  that  period  ample  reason  will  be  found  to  have  at  the  time 
appeared  to  many  that  some  change  was  needed  in  its  conduct, 
and  Reed  from  the  executive  chair  was  but  the  exponent  of  a 
class  rather  than  a  party  in  having  to  deal  with  a  matter,  the 
only  cure  for  which  they  thought  to  lie  in  the  substitution  of  a 
new  charter  for  the  old. 


10  See  Pennsylvania  and  the  Federal  Constitution  by  Mr.  McMaster  and  Dr. 
Stone,  Philadelphia,  1888,  p.  757  for  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life. 


460        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXXVL 

One  of  the  Bachelors  of  1763,  Isaac  Hunt,  the  son  of 
the  Rector  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  Bridgetown,  Barbadoes, 
unsuccessfully  applied  for  his  Master's  Degree,  but  his  com- 
plicity in 

several  scurrilous  and  scandalous  Pieces,  unworthy  of  a  good  man  or  Per- 
son of  Education ;  some  of  them  highly  reflecting  on  the  Government  of 
this  Province,  as  well  as  on  this  College  itself  where  he  had  received  his 
Education  and  his  former  Benefactors  in  it;  in  proof  of  which  the  original 
copies  of  two  Numbers  of  an  infamous  Publication,  entitled  "Exercises  in 
Scurrility  Hall,"  were  produced,  with  some  of  his  own  Handwriting  in  one 
of  them ;  and  it  was  also  asserted  that  he  had  been  concerned  in  the  pub- 
lication of  several  other  Pieces  of  the  like  nature,  as  well  as  the  "Letter 
from  Transylvania,"  all  which,  the  Printer  of  these  Pieces,  Mr  Armbruster 
was  ready  to  prove, 

were  sufficient  condemnation  of  his  hopes.  He  was  in  waiting 
in  another  room  to  hear  the  judgment  of  the  Trustees,  who 
deemed  "  him  at  present  unworthy  of  any  further  Honors  in 
this  Seminary,"  which  Dr.  Smith  communicated  to  him,  when 
he  "did  not  deny  his  having  written  the  Letter  from  Transyl- 
vania, nor  his  having  made  some  corrections  in  some  of  the 
Exercises  in  Scurrility  Hall,  but  that  he  was  not  the  author  of 
any  of  them."  Thus  the  father  of  Leigh  Hunt  lost  his  Master's 
Degree  in  course  in  the  Philadelphia  College.  Isaac  Hunt  and 
Benjamin  West  married  sisters,  and  both  found  their  homes  in 
England.  He  took  orders  in  the  Church  of  England  and  was 
ordained  4  March,  I777-1 


1  Hunt  aspired  to  contest  for  the  Sargent  Medal  and  wrote  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, "  would  be  glad  to  be  honored  with  your  sentiments  when  you  have  read  both 
Performances,  which  I  propose  sending  you  by  the  Packet.  This  much  I  would  beg 
leave  to  observe  that  I  could  not  expect  to  receive  Honors  from  Men  to  whom  I  am 
so  obnoxious.  This  is  evident  from  the  ill  usage  I  have  very  lately  received.  Accord- 
ing to  custom  I  made  application  for  my  Master's  Degree,  an  Honor  which  I  had 
not  forfeited,  and  was  therefore  entitled  to.  The  Trustees  after  sending  for  my  Prin- 
ter, and  strictly  examining  the  poor  ignorant  Man  with  respect  to  the  Political  Pam- 
phlets I  had  wrote,  without  hearing  what  I  had  to  say,  rejected  my  Application  and 
refused  to  give  me  my  Master's  Degree.  There  are  no  Honors  for  me,  this  Side  the 
Water  unless  your  patriotic  Endeavors  for  a  change  are  crowned  with  success.  Had 
I  not  so  great  and  sincere  a  Friend  as  you  are,  good  Sir,  I  candidly  confess  that  my 
Ambition  would  have  been  greatly  checked  by  this  cruel  Behavior— cruel  because  it 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       461 

But  it  may  be  worth  while  to  note  how  the  exercises  of 
this  interesting  Commencement  were  carried  on.  "The  Sol- 
emnity was  opened "  by  the  customary  religious  and  loyal 
service.  The  local  chronicler,  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  of  22 
May.  recorded : 

it  was  rendered  very  splendid  by  the  great  Number  of  Persons  present, 
and  many  of  the  public  exercises  being  happily  adapted  to  the  joyful 
Event,  of  which  we  had  received  the  News  the  preceding  Day. 

Mr.  John  King  opened  with  "  an  elegant  salutatory  oration  in 
Latin."  Mr.  Hans  Hamilton  followed  with  "An  English  Ora- 
tion." Then  came  "A  Syllogistic  Disputation,  Utrum  Praescientia 
divina  tollit  Libertatem  agendi."  Then  Mr.  Montgomery  and 
Mr.  Hopkinson  followed  each  with  "An  English  Oration." 
The  afternoon  session  began  with  "A  Forensic  Disputation, 
Whether  Ease  be  the  chief  Good  ;  the  question  was  opened  and 
stated  by  Mr.  Thomas  Read,  who  denied  Ease  to  be  the  chief 
Good.  Mr.  Richard  Lee  and  Mr.  Samuel  Boyd,  entertained  the 
Audience  with  many  ingenious  and  specious  Arguments  on  the 
affirmative  side ;  which  were  ably  answered  by  Mr.  Robert 
Andrews  and  Mr.  Phineas  Bond."  And  the  "Valedictory 
Oration  was  spoken  by  Mr.  Thomas  Coombe,  who  obtained 
much  applause  by  the  Spirit  of  his  Performance,  Propriety  of 
Action  and  Grace  of  Elocution."  2  Then  came  the  delivery  of 


flows  from  the  poisoning  Fountain  of  Faction  and  Revenge.  *  *  *  I  am,  worthy 
sir,  with  great  Faithfulness  your  affec.  and  obliged  Hble  Servt,  Isaac  Hunt." 
MS  letter  with  American  Philosophical  Society.  The  title  of  his  publication  would 
but  invite  condemnation  to  the  author  by  the  Trustees,  as  follows:  "A  Humble 
Attempt  at  Scurrility.  In  Imitation  of  Those  Great  Masters  of  the  Art  the  Rev.  Dr. 
S — th  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Al— n;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ew — n — ;  the  Irreverend  D.  J.  D — ve  ; 
and  the  Heroic  J — n  D — n,  Esq.;  Being  a  Full  Answer  to  the  Observations  on  Mr.: 
H — s's  Advertisement.  By  Jack  Retort,  Student  in  Scurrility,  Quilsylvania 
Printed,  1765."  John  Hughes  had  offered  five  pounds  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital 
if  certain  charges  against  Franklin  could  be  proven.  His  advertisement  called  out  a 
severe  attack  on  Franklin,  to  which  Hunt's  pamphlet  was  a  reply.  He  thus,  on  the 
other  side  from  Hugh  Williamson,  had  entered  the  lists  of  controversy,  and  met  that 
punishment  which  the  other  escaped. — Bibliography  of  Franklin,  Ford.  351. 

1  A  few  years  later  Dr.  Franklin  wrote  to  young  Coombe :  "  That  reputation 
which  you  are  acquiring  as  an  Orator,  gives  me  Plensure  as  your  Friend,  and  it  will 
give  you  yourself  the  most  solid  Satisfaction,  if  you  find  this  by  your  Eloquence  you 
can  turn  many  to  Righteousness.  Without  that  Effect,  the  preacher  or  the  priest  in 
my  opinion,  is  not  merely  sounding  Brass  or  a  tinkling  Cymbal,  which  are  innocent 
things;  he  is  rather  like  the  Cunning  Man  in  the  Old  Baily,  who  conjures  and  tells 
Fools  their  Fortunes,  to  cheat  them  of  their  Money."  To  Rev.  Mr.  Coombe,  Lon- 
don, 22  July,  1774  ;  draft  with  the  American  Philosophical  Society. 


462        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  Prize  Medal,  already  narrated.  "  The  last  Exercise  was  a 
Dialogue  in  Honor  of  the  Friends  of  America,  and  two  Odes 
on  Liberty  and  Patriotism.  The  Dialogue  was  spoken  by  Mr. 
Richard  Lee  and  Mr.  Phineas  Bond,  and  the  Odes3  sung  by  the 
two  Master  Banksons,  accompanied  by  the  Organ,  and  the  whole 
was  received  with  the  utmost  marks  of  Approbation  from  a 
candid  audience.  The  Vice  Provost  concluded  with  Prayer," 
and  with  a  graceful  reminder  for  the  Charity  Schools. 

The  Provost  having  given  notice  that  some  of  the  Trustees  would 
attend  at  the  Gates,  to  receive  the  free  will  offerings  of  pious  and  well  dis- 
posed Persons,  for  the  use  of  the  Charity  Schools,  about  Forty  Pounds 
were  collected — a  great  proof  of  the  Generosity  of  the  Public  and  their 
readiness  to  encourage  this  useful  institution  on  all  occasions. 

The  sun  was  already  declining  in  the  western  sky  when  the 
participants  in  this  day's  doings  in  the  College  Hall  wended 
their  homeward  ways  with  the  most  pleasing  reflections  upon 
their  country  and  upon  the  College.  The  young  men  who  this 
day  "  commenced "  their  Life  had  upon  them  the  brightest 
harbinger  of  their  country's  welfare  and  happiness,  yet  the 
shadows  soon  gathered  and  in  a  few  years  the  classmates 
found  themselves  scattered  and  about  equally  placed  on  the 
opposing  sides  in  the  great  controversy.  One  of  the  odes  com- 
posed by  young  Hopkinson  had  an  allusion  to  Col.  Barre' s  visit 
on  a  former  occasion  to  the  College  : 

Nor  let  our  Barre'  s  worth  be  lost  to  Fame 
Barre,  who  deigned  to  grace  these  humble  Walls, 
And  listen  partial  to  our  Infant  Strains; 
Who  joy'd  to  see  the  Seeds  of  Sacred  Truth 
And  Freedom,  planted  in  a  distant  land; 
Nor  yet  forgets  our  Cause.4 

The  fervor  of  the  descriptions  of  the  College  Commence- 
ments in  these  early  years  as  prepared  by  the  Provost,  and  often 


3  "  Two  odes  written  chiefly  by  one  of  the  Candidates,  Thomas  Hopkinson,  B 
A."     Penna.  Gazette,  5  June,  1766. 

*  "  Col.  Barre  while  in  America  was  pleased  to  be  present  at  several  of  the 
Exercises  in  this  College,  when  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  received  their  Degrees 
on  the  present  occasion,  were  very  young,  and  making  their  first  appearance  as 
speakers."  Penna.  Gazette,  5  June,  1766. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       463 

penned  with  his  own  hand  in  the  Minutes,  portray  to  us  the 
spirit  of  their  performance,  and  as  he  was  able  to  put  on  paper 
such  a  picture  of  the  present  scene,  we  can  realize  what  they 
must  have  been  in  influence  and  interest  to  those  who  partici- 
pated in  them.  His  power  of  description  was  that  of  the  pencil 
of  the  painter,  and  though  the  Minutes  record  year  by  year  the 
like  story,  yet  each  has  its  variety  and  its  significance.  One  would 
like  to  record  all  of  them  here,  but  in  print  they  would  not  con- 
vey that  living  interest  which  the  Minutes  written  in  his  own 
clear  and  decided  hand  do,  touched  up  as  they  may  be  with 
some  interlineation  which  adds  force  to  the  tale.  But  none  of 
the  later  Commencements  can  equal  that  of  1766,  just  described, 
in  interest,  and  we  cannot  suffer  ourselves  to  linger  over  them, 
with  however  the  single  exception  of  that  of  1768,  which  Dr. 
Smith  records  "  may  be  considered  as  the  Birth  Day  of  Medical 
Honors  in  America."  Even  he  could  not  with  his  eyes  of  a 
Seer  predict  what  a  great  day  this  Commencement  of  1 768  was 
to  the  College,  and  how  fruitful  this  Birth  Day  of  Medical 
honors  was  of  reputation  and  dignity  to  the  College  in  those 
long  after  years  for  which  he  was  doing  his  share  in  erecting 
the  edifice. 


464       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXXVIL 

The  year  1766  closed  with  the  purchase  by  the  Trustees  of 
Mr.  Dove's  houses  on  Fourth  Street  and  the  adjoining  Arch 
Street  Lot,  which  now  made  their  frontage  on  Fourth  Street 
two  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet,  and  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  feet  on  Arch  Street.  These  had  been  purchased  by  him 
*n  :753>  at  the  time  the  Trustees  added  materially  to  their 
premises,  and  negotiations  to  secure  them  were  opened  in  1765, 
but  the  uncertainty  of  public  affairs  and  indeed  of  all  private 
concerns  due  to  the  excitement  caused  by  the  Stamp  Act  broke 
these  off;  the  delay  was  fortunate  for  the  Trustees  in  that  they 
were  finally  enabled  to  secure  the  properties  at  their  own  price. 
Having  at  the  close  of  1765  rented  out  their  vacant  Arch  Street 
and  Fourth  Street  lots  "  for  any  Term  not  exceeding  Seven 
Years  on  the  best  Yearly  rents  they  can  obtain,"  they  were 
thus  enabled  to  meet  their  interest  charges  on  this  new  pur- 
chase. 

Dr.  Smith  continued  to  respond  to  requests  for  his  sermons, 
for  no  one  in  this  or  the  adjoining  Provinces  excelled  him  in 
pulpit  reputation.  On  10  April  of  this  year  he  preached  "a 
suitable  sermon"  in  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  at  the  funeral  of 
the  Rev.  Colin  Campbell,  many  years  a  Missionary  there.1  And 
on  2  September  we  find  him2  preaching  in  Trinity  Church,  New 
York,  "an  excellent  sermon  on  the  occasion"  of  the  induction 
of  his  friend  Rev.  Samuel  Auchmuty  to  the  Rectorship  of  the 
parish,  and  again  in  the  afternoon  at  St.  George's  Church.3 

It  was  in  this  year,  as  we  have  seen,  he  assumed  the  Rec- 
torship of  Trinity  Church,  Oxford.4  He  appears  to  have  remained 
the  incumbent  of  this  parish  for  at  least  five  years,  for  on  3  May, 
1771,  he  writes  to  the  Propagation  Society  : 


lPenna.  Gazette,  14  April,  1766. 

2  New  York  Mercury,  3  September,  1766. 

3  In  the  following  year  we  find  him  taking  Dr.  Peters'  duties  at  Christ  Church. 
He  writes  to  Thomas  Penn  23  August,  1767 :  "  Mr.  Peters  is  in  a  very  low  state  and 
I  have  been  obliged  to  preach  for  him  for  some  time  past,"  and  on  26th,"  Mr.  Peters 
is  got  a  little  better  since  my  last,  but  not  yet  able  to  do  any  duty." 

4  Smith  i.  406,  407. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       465 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  going  to  preach  among  them  and  in  Sum- 
mer particularly.  *  *  *  The  people  seem  more  desirous  than  ever  of 
my  continuance  to  officiate  among  them,  and  as  it  is  at  present  a  pleasure 
to  me  independent  of  some  benefit  it  is  to  my  large  family,  I  must  rely  on 
your  goodness  that  there  be  no  alteration  made  without  the  concurrence  of 
the  people  and  myself,  a  request  which,  from  my  long  services  to  the 
Church  in  America,  I  hope  the  Society  will  think  me  entitled  to  make.8 

Early  in  this  year  "we  see  the  first  evidences  of  that  desire 
for  the  acquisition  of  lands,  which,  by  degrees,  made  a  feature  in 
his  character  and  history."6  His  biographer  tells  us  that  in  Sep- 
tember he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Juniata  River,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Standing  Stone  Creek,  which  he  laid  out  in  lots 
and  called  Huntingdon,  and  this  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  Boroughs  in  Pennsylvania.  This  was  no  uncommon 
attraction  to  the  active  men  of  the  day,  and  Dr.  Smith  was  not 
singular  in  making  such  hopeful  investments.  The  allayment  of 
the  Stamp  Act  controversy  by  the  repeal  of  the  Bill  produced 
the  most  sanguine  thoughts  in  the  minds  of  those  more  adven- 
turous as  to  the  future  of  the  country,  and  to  become  posses- 
sors of  tracts  of  lands  which  would  surely  rise  in  value  ere  many 
years  was  both  a  reasonable  and  natural  attraction  to  many. 
However,  in  many  cases,  loss  was  the  result  more  than  gain,  and 
the  years  of  Revolution  when  there  was  no  market  for  idle 
acres  brought  many  holders  of  such  to  penury  and  want. 


5  Smith  i.  462. 

•Ibid,  391.  He  wrote  13  January,  1766,  to  Sir  William  Johnson :  "Mr. 
Barton  who  is  a  very  valuable  man,  informed  me  that  you  had  recommended  him  for  a 
grant  of  some  Lands  from  your  Government,  and  he  generously  offered  me  to  share 
with  him.  If,  by  your  goodness,  anything  would  be  done  this  way,  or  any  Tract 
worth  recommending,  I  believe  I  have  interest  enough  in  England,  and  perhaps  also 
in  New  York,  to  make  it  effectual."  We  find  Dr.  Smith  writing  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Propagation  Society,  10  August,  1769,  "  I  do  not  expect  to  be  in  Town  as  our 
College  vacation  begins  next  Monday  and  I  cannot  deny  myself  my  annual  ramble 
towards  the  frontiers  of  this  Province."  Perry's  Historical  Collections  ii.  443. 


466        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


LXXVIII. 

The  Commencement  of  1767  was  not  held  until  ^Novem- 
ber ;  the  reason  for  the  delay,  however,  is  not  stated  in  the  record. 
10  November  had  been  appointed  "and  eight  days  more  being 
judged  necessary  to  prepare  the  students,  it  is  put  off  till  next 
Tuesday."  The  six  graduates  were  Jacob  Bankson,  who  spoke 
the  Salutatory  Oration  ;  James  Cannon,  a  native  of  Edinburgh, 
who  became  professorof  Mathematics  in  1773  ;  Francis  Johnston, 
afterwards  Colonel  of  a  Pennsylvania  Regiment  in  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  Receiver  General  of  the  Pennsylvania  Land  Office  from 
1781-1800;  John  White  Swift,  the  Valedictorian;  Edward 
Tilghman,  a  native  of  Maryland,  afterwards  a  leading  lawyer  at 
the  Philadelphia  Bar ;  and  Joshua  Maddox  Wallace,  a  grandson 
of  Joshua  Maddox  the  Trustee  who  had  died  eight  years  before  : 
young  Wallace  shortly  became  a  tutor  in  the  College.1  Alison, 
Andrews,  Dungan,  Patterson  and  White  of  the  class  of  1765, 
were  made  Masters  in  course.  "  The  honorary  degree  of  Bach- 
elor of  Arts  was  conferred  on  Joseph  Hutchins,  of  Barbadoes, 
formerly  a  student  in  this  College."  But  the  great  achievement 
of  the  occasion  was  conferring  the  honorary  Master's  Degree 
on  "Mr.  David  Rittenhouse,  of  Norriton,  in  this  County,2  on 
account  of  his  great  Knowledge  in  Mechanics,  Mathematics, 
Astronomy  and  other  liberals  arts."  The  Provost's  remarks 
when  admitting  him  to  the  Degree,  he  enters  on  the  minutes  : 

The  Trustees  of  this  College  (the  Faculty  of  Professors  cheerfully 
concurring)  being  ever  desirous  to  distinguish  real  merit,  especially  in  the 


1  "An  elegant  Dialogue  written  in  verse  by  Thomas  Coombe,  B.  A.,  was  also 
spoken  on  this  occasion  and  an  ode  set  to  Music  was  sung  by  Master  John  Bankson. 
with  great  sweetness  and  propriety,  accompanied  by  the  Organ,  under  the  conduct  of 
a  worthy  son  of  the  College  (viz :  Mr.  Hopkinson)   who  has  often  shown  his  Regard 
to  the  Place  of  his  Education,  by  honoring  it  on  public  occasions  with  his  ready 
service.     The  Band  belonging  to  the  i8th  or  Royal  Irish  Regiment,  was  kindly  per- 
mitted by  Col.  Wilkins  to  perform  the  Instrumental  Part  of  the  Music."     Minutes. 
Francis  Hopkinson,  Samuel  Powel,  and  Hon.  James  Hamilton  had  arrived  home  on 
23  October  in  the  Pennsylvania  Packet.     Pennsylvania   Gazette,  29  October,  1767. 
Mr.  Coombe's  Dialogue  in  Verse  was  published  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  26 
November. 

2  Norristotvn :  This   portion  of  Philadelphia   County  was  afterwards  set   oft 
as  Montgomery  County. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       467 

natives  of  this  Province,  and  well  assured  of  the  extraordinary  Progress 
and  Improvement  which  you  have  made  by  a  Felicity  of  natural  Genius, 
in  Mechanics,  Mathematics,  Astronomy  and  other  liberal  Arts  and  Sciences; 
all  which  you  have  adorned  by  singular  Modesty  and  irreproachable  Morals, 
have  authorised  and  required  me  to  admit  you  to  the  honorary  Degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  in  this  Seminary. 

Of  this  justly  distinguished  man,  whose  talent  for  the 
investigation  of  the  mysteries  of  creation  was  developed  with 
such  industry  and  skill,  we  shall  learn  more  in  the  progress  of 
our  present  journey,  as  the  institution  was  honored  in  his  various 
connections  with  it ;  he  was  made  Professor  of  Astronomy  in 
1779,  and  was  a  Trustee  from  1784  to  1796.  The  mortality 
among  the  college  men  this  year  was  remarkable  :  Dr.  Smith's 
pupil  and  young  friend,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Evans,  had  died  on 
29  October,  having  borne  the  honors  of  the  College  but  two 
years  ;  Paul  Jackson,  an  early  Tutor  and  one  of  the  first  Profes- 
sors, died  at  Chester  on  22  October;  and  on  30  June,  Professor 
Beveridge,  the  eccentric  but  faithful  preceptor,  had  died.3  The 
death  of  Evans  must  have  cast  a  shadow  over  this  Commence- 
ment, for  his  early  genius  and  his  winning  manners  had  drawn 
to  him  the  affection  of  many  and  the  esteem  of  all. 

The  learning  of  Beveridge  was  undoubted,  but  in  discipline 
he  was  very  lax ;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  pupils  of  the 
Latin  School  made  that  progress  which  was  expected.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  regard  held  for  him  by  the  Provost  was 
often  shown  by  his  aid  in  upholding  his  proper  influence  with 
his  classes.  In  January,  1761,  he  had  appealed  to  the  Trustees 
"  that  he  was  under  great  Difficulties  in  the  Discharge  of  his 
Duty,  for  want  of  a  proper  Sett  of  Rules  for  the  Government  of 
the  Latin  School,  and  likewise  for  want  of  a  proper  Grammar," 
which  led  the  Trustees  to  an  entire  review  of  the  Rules  of  the 
College.  But  the  cure  promised  in  these  did  not  reach  the  case  ; 
the  Minutes  record  "  it  had  been  observed  about  that  Time  that 
the  Discipline  and  good  order  which  had  been  kept  up  in  the 
Latin  School,  before  Dr.  Alison  leaving  it,  were  somewhat 
relaxed,"  and  in  September  the  Vice- Provost  was  asked  to 


*  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  5  November,  I  October,  2  July,  1767. 


468       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

resume  its  care  and  oversight  "  in  the  hope  that  justice  might 
now  be  done  to  the  great  number  of  Scholars  which  had  of  late 
entered  that  School,"  at  which  Mr.  Beveridge  expressed  great 
Satisfaction  with  the  care  the  Trustees  had  taken  to  engage  Dr. 
Alison's  assistance.4  As  to  the  Latin  Grammar,  "  Mr.  Peters 
and  Mr.  Stedman  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  confer  with 
the  Members  of  Faculty,  and  with  them  to  settle  a  good  Latin 
Grammar5  in  order  to  be  forthwith  printed  for  the  use  of  the 
Latin  School."  This  resulted  in  the  Grammar  printed  by  Steuart, 
whose  typographical  errors  afforded  Hopkinson  so  much  merri- 
ment as  to  lead  him  to  publish  his  key  to  it,  and  thus  give 
unconscious  offence  to  both  Alison  and  Beveridge,  which  harm- 
less humor  shut  him  out  from  any  share  in  the  Commencement 
exercises  of  1763,  as  narrated  by  Dr.  Peters  in  his  letter  to  the 
Provost  already  quoted.  Beveridge's  want  of  care  was  the 
cause  of  this  :  had  Dr.  Alison  been  as  careful  in  details  as  Dr. 
Smith,  the  book  would  have  had  his  own  careful  supervision  and 
would  not  have  appeared  from  Steuart's  press  in  the  form  which 
invited  Hopkinson's  ridicule.6  At  this  time  there  were  reported 
eighty-four  boys  in  the  Latin  School.  Upon  Mr.  Beveridge's 
death  some  difficulty  existed  in  finding  a  successor  to  him  ; 
the  Trustees  met  the  same  day,  showed  their  regard  for  him  by 
bearing  his  funeral  charges,  and  proposed  to  advertise  for  a  suc- 
cessor. Young  Wallace,  soon  after  his  graduation  in  the  fol- 
lowing November,  offered  himself,  and  in  December  "entered 
upon  three  Months  trial  in  the  Latin  School  *  *  and  if 

not  then  appointed  Chief  Master,  to  have  the  common  Salary  of 
an  Usher  if  he  should  chuse  to  continue  longer."7  But  search 
was  continued  for  another,  and  "it  was  recommended  to  Mr. 
Peters  and  such  other  Trustees  as  should  meet  the  Maryland 
Commissioners  at  Christiana  Bridge,  to  take  that  opportunity  of 


4  Minutes  13  January,  8  September,  1761,  24  March,  1763. 
5Ibid  13  January,  1761. 

6  "  Dr.  Alison  and  Mr.  Beveridge     *     *     now  acquainted  the  Trustees  that  it 
was  printed  by  Mr.  Steuart  under  their  Inspection  and  Correction  of  the  Press  and  he 
had  delivered  to  them  five  hundred  copies  for  which  they  had   agreed  to  give  him 
according  to  his  Bill."     Minutes,  9  November,  1762. 

7  Minutes,  9  December,  1767. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       469 

enquiring  of  Mr.  James  Davidson,  Master  of  the  School  at  New- 
ark." At  the  February  meeting  following  these  gentlemen 
reported  their  engagement  of  Mr.  Davidson  at  a  Salary  of  Two 
Hundred  Pounds,  "  he  taking  the  house,"  one  of  the  Dove  pur- 
chases, "Mrs.  Child  lived  in  at  the  rate  of  Thirty  Pounds  per 
annum  to  be  accounted  as  part  of  the  said  Yearly  salary."  Mr. 
Davidson  continued  in  his  Professorship  until  the  abrogation  of 
the  Charter  in  1779,  and  in  the  revived  institution  he  held  the 
chair  from  178 2  to  1806. 


LXXIX. 

The  Latin  School  appeared  to  attract  the  greater  solicitude 
of  the  Trustees,  and  the  best  assistance  was  sought  for  its  Master. 
Late  in  1761,  it  is  recorded  that  "Mr.  Polock  a  young  man 
lately  came  from  Ireland  had  been  employed  for  some  time  upon 
Trial  as  a  Latin  Usher  and  appeared  to  be  well  qualified  and 
diligent."1  He  continued  in  service  only  to  June,  1762,  as  he 
"  intends  going  to  keep  a  school  in  New  England."2  In  his  place, 
young  Watts,  then  in  his  Senior  year  "  was  chosen  Usher  in  his 
room."  Patrick  Alison  had  been  Usher  since  the  summer  of 
1760;  more  than  once  he  applied  for  increase  of  salary,  and 
finally  in  the  spring  of  1763  gave  "  Notice  that  his  affairs  would 
not  permit  him  to  continue  longer  in  their  service  than  the  ensu- 
ing Commencement ;"  when  on  Dr.  Alison's  recommendation, 
young  Lang,  a  Senior,  was  chosen  in  his  place.  Mr.  Watts  did 
not  remain  longer  than  July,  1763,  and  Lang  not  later  than 
January,  1764;  the  latter  repented  and  applied  in  February  to 
be  admitted  again  as  Tutor  "but  all  were  of  opinion  that  as  he 
left  the  Trustees'  service  abruptly  he  should  not  be  employed 
again."3  John  Davis,  a  tutor  in  the  English  school,  was  on  12 

1  Minutes  I o  November,  1761.  albid,  II  May,  1762. 

3  Ibid,  14  February,  1764. 


4/o       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

July,  1763,  two  months  after  his  graduation,  admitted  a  Tutor 
in  the  Latin  School.  But  the  following  May  found  him 
acquainting  the  Trustees  that  "  his  affairs  require  him  to  leave 
their  service."  He  was  succeeded  by  John  Andrews,  of  the 
Senior  Class,  who  in  later  years  became  the  head  of  the  institu- 
tion ;  he,  in  turn,  applied  to  the  Trustees  in  July,  1765,  "  and 
obtained  leave  to  remove  to  take  charge  of  a  school  at  Lan- 
caster." Dungan,  his  classmate,  a  tutor  in  the  English  school, 
succeeded  him  in  the  Latin  School.  Robert  Eaton,  recom- 
mended by  "  Mr.  Powell  the  Master  of  the  School  at  Burlington 
whom  he  had  served  as  a  Latin  assistant,"  was  chosen  in  February, 
1764,  in  the  place  made  vacant  by  Lang.  Mr.  Peters  had 
examined  this  young  man  and  reported  that  "  he  had  but  in  part 
examined  him  as  to  his  Learning  and  Ability  to  teach  which  were 
not  extraordinary,  yet  it  appeared  to  him  that  he  had  the  funda- 
mentals of  the  Languages  and  a  good  improveable  Capacity." 
But  in  the  following  August  he  was  relieved,  "  they  having  no 
farther  occasion  for  his  services.4  We  find  a  Mr.  Anderson  Tu- 
tor in  the  Latin  School,  but  his  place  was  filled  in  June,  1766,  by 
.Thomas  Read  of  the  class  of  that  year.  John  Montgomery,  of 
the  class  of  1766,  became  the  following  year  Tutor  in  the  Latin 
School. 

The  Mathematical  School  since  the  death  of  Mr.  Grew  in 
1759  had  been  but  inefficiently  mastered.  In  March,  1760,  Dr. 
Peters 

acquainted  the  Trustees  that  he  had  examined  the  Mathematical  School  in 
which  there  are  twenty  Boys  who  belong  to  that  school  and  no  other;  and 
besides  these  he  found  Numbers  of  Boys  from  the  Latin  and  English 
Schools  who  came  there  to  be  taught  to  write,  that  he  thinks  the  Business 
being  too  much  for  Mr  Pratt  to  go  thro' ,  the  Boys  cannot  be  sufficiently 
instructed,  and  desires  the  Trustees  will  think  of  giving  him  some  assistant. 

On  the  endorsement  of  the  Provost,  Samuel  Campbell,  an 
Usher  in  the  Charity  School  since  August,  1759,  "who  wrote  a 
very  good  hand,"  was  appointed,  "  he  teaching  the  Boys  to 
write  one  hour  and  an  half  in  the  Latin  School  and  the  same 


4  Minutes  13  March,  21  August,  1764. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       471 

in  the  English  School,"  and  he  was  then  also  appointed  Clerk 
to  the  Trustees.  It  was  not  until  January  following  that  a 
head  for  this  important  school  was  found  in  Mr.  Hugh 
Williamson  who  had  been  an  Usher  in  the  Latin  School 
up  to  June,  1757;  indeed  Mr.  Pratt,  in  temporary  charge,  had 
left  in  May,  1760,  and  Mr.  Campbell  had  in  fact  been  the  only 
incumbent.  Mr.  Williamson  resumed  his  connection  with  the 
College  and  became  the  Professor  of  Mathematics.  Here  he 
faithfully  continued  until,  in  June,  1763,  he  expressed  a  desire 
to  be  relieved,  which  was  allayed  by  the  Trustees  acceding  at 
their  next  meeting  to  some  proposed  regulations  he  presented 
which  arose  from  "  some  sentiments  he  offered  concerning  the 
present  state  of  the  school."  But  as  his  views  were  not  endorsed 
fully  he  in  November  following  renewed  his  request,  and  the 
school  was  again  put  under  the 

care  of  Mr  Pratt  the  writing  Master.  *  *  *  the  rather  as  some  of  the 
Trustees  were  told  by  Mr  Pratt  that  he  had  improved  himself  in  the  several 
parts  of  Learning  taught  there,  and  would  be  willing  to  undertake  it  till 
they  could  be  supplied  with  a  Master  to  their  Minds. 

This  continued  for  two  years;  in  November,  1765,  "the 
Trustees  for  several  weighty  considerations  have  agreed  to  pro- 
vide an  able  Mathematical  Master  (for  the  school  in  which  Mr. 
Pratt  is  now  employed)  as  soon  as  possible ;"  and  in  January 
following  Thomas  Dungan  "  who  had  his  education  in  this  Col- 
lege and  was  well  qualified  in  these  Respects,"  and  who  had 
been  tutor  in  the  English  and  Latin  Schools  respectively,  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Mathematics.  As  the  writing  lessons 
came  under  this  department,  we  learn  the  idea  of  the  Trustees 
of  a  proper  standard  recorded  in  their  Minutes  of  17  October, 
1767, 

that  strict  orders  be  given  to  the  Masters  of  the  Latin  School  to  receive 
no  exercises  from  the  Boys  that  are  blotted,  interlined,  or  not  written  in  as 
fair  and  good  a  Hand,  as  the  Boy  can  be  supposed  capable  to  write.5 


5In  the  Minutes  of  21  August,  1764,  we  find  Tutor  Johnston's  salary  aug- 
mented to  the  sum  of  ten  pounds  "  in  consideration  of  doing  the  whole  duty  of  Writing 
Master  in  both  schools  and  making  Pens  between  6  and  8  in  the  Morning  in  Sum- 
mer, and  between  the  School  Hours  in  \Vinter." 


472        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

The  English  School,  under  Mr.  Kinnersley's  care,  seemed 
to  attract  less  and  less  interest  with  the  Trustees,  and  Franklin 
on  his  return  had  good  cause  for  faulting  this  important  branch  ; 
the  Professor  was  given  the  Stewardship  of  the  new  Buildings, 
and  anxious  and  careful  man  as  he  was,  he  could  not  success- 
fully carry  on  jointly  these  two  charges.  In  November,  1761, 
John  Davis  "  one  of  the  Junior  Students  in  the  Philosophy 
Classes  offered  his  services  to  assist  Mr.  Kinnersley  two  or 
three  hours  every  day."  In  May,  1763,  a  few  days  before  his 
graduation,  he  was  formally  appointed  "  an  usher  in  the  Eng- 
lish School."  In  the  ensuing  July  he  was  appointed  Tutor  in 
the  Latin  School,  and  Isaac  Hunt,  his  classmate,  became  Tutor 
in  the  English  School.  In  April,  1764,  Mr.  Alexander  Alex- 
ander was  "  admitted  full  Tutor  in  the  English  School."  In  the 
following  October,  he  was  appointed  Tutor  in  the  Latin  School, 
Edward  Jones  succeeding  him  here,  but  the  latter  resigned  in 
April,  1765,  being  in  turn  succeeded  by  Thomas  Dungan.  In 
June,  1766,  John  Montgomery,  who  had  just  graduated,  was 
appointed  to  "assist  Mr.  Kinnersley  until  further  Orders."  We 
find  him  later  Tutor  in  the  Latin  School. 6  At  the  meeting  of 
January,  1768,  it  was  "remarked  that  the  Schools  suffer  in  the 
public  esteem  by  the  Discontinuance  of  public  speaking,"  and 
at  a  special  meeting  called  a  week  later,  Jonathan  Easton  and 
Thomas  Hall,  then  in  their  Senior  Year,  were  selected 

to  assist  Mr  Kinnersley  in  the  English  School  and  taking  care  of  the  same 
when  he  shall  be  employed  in  teaching  the  Students  in  the  Philosophy 
Classes  and  Grammar  School,  the  Art  ef  Public  Speaking. 


6  Minutes  10  November,  1767, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       473 


LXXX. 

Thus  far  have  we  some  illustrations  of  the  different  Schools 
of  the  Academy.  The  College,  in  its  higher  aims,  was  under 
the  care  of  the  Provost  and  Vice  Provost,  Dr.  Ewing,  who  was 
now  made  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy,  supplying  the 
former's  place  in  his  absence.  The  Trustees  gave  their  interest 
to  both,  though  reasonably  their  concern  was  greater  for  the 
Lower  Schools,  as  probably  less  immediately  under  the  Pro- 
vost's Eyes.  We  find  them  in  April,  1762,  just  after  Dr.  Smith 
sailed  for  England,  assiduous  in  their  duties  as  Examiners  of  the 
pupils  :  "  The  Senior  Students  were  examined  by  Dr.  Alison  and 
Mr.  Peters  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  Languages  ;  by  Mr.  Ewing 
and  Mr.  Williamson  in  Mathematicks  ;  and  by  Mr.  Peters  and 
Dr.  Alison  in  Logic  which  took  up  the  Forenoon."  In  the 
afternoon 

Mr  Stedman  and  Mr  Ewing  examined  the  Students  in  Natural  Phil- 
osophy, and  Dr  Alison  and  Mr  Peters  in  Moral  Philosophy.  The  exami- 
nation in  all  the  Branches  of  Science  was  Strict  and  full,  and  the  Students 
gave  very  clear  and  sensible  answers,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Trustees,  and  the  audience  was  pleased  to  express,  at  going  away,  very 
favorable  Sentiments  of  the  great  Improvement  made  by  Students. 

The  public  examination  of  the  students  on  24  March,  1763, 
"  Mr.  Peters,  Mr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Stedman,  Mr.  Coleman,  and 
Mr.  Duche  "  having  been  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting  "to 
examine  them  strictly  in  the  Classicks  and  in  all  the  Branches  of 
Science  that  they  had  been  instructed  in,  *  *  was  held  in 
the  Publick  Hall  before  a  large  audience  of  People,  and  the 
Students  acquitted  themselves  to  the  Satisfaction  of  the  Trustees." 

Of  tuition  in  modern  languages  not  much  could  have  been 
expected.  Since  the  short  professorship  of  Mr.  Creamer  in  the 
French  and  German  Languages  in  1754,  there  had  been  tuition 
for  a  short  while  by  Mr.  Fontaine  who  died  in  1760,*  and  he 
was  succeeded  by  another — whose  name  is  not  recorded — who 


1  Minutes  14  October,  1760. 


474       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

"  was  well  recommended   for  a  good   French  Master."     Later, 
we  find  in  the  Minutes  of  8  January,  1763, 

The  Rev  Mr  Rothenbuller,  Minister  of  the  Calvinist  Church  in  this 
city  having  been  desired  by  some  of  the  scholars  to  teach  them  the  French 
Language,  applied  for  Liberty  to  make  use  of  one  of  the  Rooms  of  the 
Academy  for  that  Purpose,  which  was  granted  him,  so  as  he  did  not 
interfere  with  any  of  the  School  hours. 

And  on  20  May,  1766,  Dr  Smith  records  : 

Mr  Paul  Fook  was  chosen  Professor  of  the  French  and  Spanish 
Tongues  in  this  College,  by  the  vote  of  fourteen  Trustees,  immediately 
after  the  Commencement. 

The  Provost's  division  of  the  studies  in  the  Academy  and 
the  College  he  defines  for  us  in  his  curriculum  of  1754.  The 
former  embraced  the  professorship  "  of  English  and  Oratory 
with  one  Assistant  and  a  Writing  Master,"  and  the  professorship 
of  Mathematics.  The  College  embraced  the  three  Philosophy 
Schools  under  the  Provost  and  Vice  Provost,  and  the  Latin  and 
Greek  School  under  the  "  Professor  of  Languages,  three  Tutors, 
a  Writing  Master,  &c."  In  the  course  of  the  twelve  years 
following  this,  these  proper  divisions  may  not  have  been  fully 
conformed  to,  the  Provost  being  twice  absent  in  England.  Dr. 
Ewing  taking  the  Provost's  lectures  in  his  second  absence  as  he 
did  in  the  first,  brought  him  to  a  larger  acquaintance  with  the 
pupils  and  the  institution,  and  in  the  Professorship  of  Natural 
Philosophy,  which  he  was  given  in  February,  1762,  he  continued 
fifteen  years,  as  his  assistance  to  the  College  classes  had  been 
made  necessary  by  his  merits  of  learning  and  teaching.  The 
maintenance  of  the  schools  in  the  Academy  was  essential  to  a 
supply  of  proper  material  for  the  classes  in  the  College ;  the 
former  were  more  closely  under  the  concern  of  the  Trustees,  the 
latter  were  under  the  supervision  of  Smith,  Alison  and  Ewing. 
To  sustain  the  College  life,  that  of  the  Academy  must  be 
nurtured  in  order  to  supply  a  trained  constituency  for  the 
former.  There  were  no  schools  in  the  city  or  neighborhood 
who  contributed  any  boy  to  the  College  lectures ;  those  schools 
who  furnished  such  were  in  the  adjoining  counties  or  in  Mary- 
land ;  hence  the  importance,  indeed  the  necessity,  of  furnishing 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       475 

the  Academy  classes  with  efficient  and  experienced  teachers,  in 
order  to  attract  from  the  community  the  lads  of  the  rising  gene- 
rations. But  the  results  as  shown  by  the  number  in  the  gradu- 
ating classes  does  not  evidence  any  growing  influence  of  the 
College  on  the  townsfolk;  though  the  stimulus  of  the  Commence- 
ment of  1766,  with  its  Sargent  Medal,  for  which  even  a  Prince- 
tonian  had  competed,  may  have  influenced  the  material  which 
made  up  the  large  classes  of  1770  and  1771,  each  of  which 
however  graduated  but  fourteen. 

In  addition  to  his  regular  lectures,  the  Provost  had  at  the 
close  of  1766  opened  a  course  of  Lectures  on  Natural  and 
Experimental  Philosophy  for  the  benefit  of  the  Medical  Students, 
and  this  he  proposed  in  the  following  season 

to  continue  on  an  extensive  plan,  at  the  request  of  the  Medical  Trustees 
and  Professors.2  *  *  *  As  these  lectures  are  instituted  and  given 
gratis  with  the  view  to  encourage  the  medical  schools  lately  opened,  and 
to  extend  the  usefulness  and  reputation  of  the  College,  any  gentlemen  who 
have  formerly  been  educated  in  this  Seminary,  and  are  desirous  of  renew- 
ing their  acquaintance  with  the  above  mentioned  branches  of  Knowledge, 
will  be  welcome  to  attend  the  course. 

But  this  notice  was  anticipated  by  the  announcement  a 
week  before  by  Mr.  Ewing  and  Dr.  Williamson  of  their  intro- 
ductory Lecture  to  a  course  of  Natural  and  Experimental 
Philosophy  to  be  given  on  II  December  "at  the  Lodge." 
This  had  been  the  subject  of  some  correspondence  by  these 
gentlemen  with  the  Trustees.  They  had  written  to  the  latter 
on  26  October : 

Many  young  gentlemen  in  this  Place  being  desirous  of  making  some 
progress  in  the  Study  of  Natural  Philosophy,  but  from  their  want  of  Mathe- 
matics and  the  necessary  avocations  of  Business,  not  being  able  to  attend 
the  Lectures  given  in  the  College  by  your  Provost,  have  repeatedly 
solicited  us  to  institute  a  private  Lecture  this  Season,  on  such  a  Plan, 
and  at  such  hours,  as  might  be  most  convenient  and  best  suited  to  them. 


*  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  17,  31,  December,  1767.  The  advertisement  has  a 
"  N.  B.  An  evening  Lecture  in  some  branches  of  Mathematics,  preparatory  to  the 
Philosophical  course  is  opened  at  the  College."  The  notice  included  the  following 
inducement :  "To  the  standing  use  of  the  large  apparatus  belonging  to  the  College, 
Mr.  Kinnersley  has  engaged  to  add  the  use  of  his  electrical  apparatus  which  is  fixed 
there,  and  to  deliver  the  lectures  on  electricity  himself,  as  well  as  to  give  his  occa- 
sional assistance  in  other  branches." 


476        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

And  they  craved  permission  for  the  "Use  of  your  Philosophical 
Apparatus,  which  is  in  the  College"  ;  and  gave  the  promise  "to 
fix  the  time  of  Lecturing  so  as  by  no  means  to  interfere  with  the 
College  Hours,  or  with  the  Provost  when  he  may  have  occasion 
to  use  the  Apparatus  "  ;  and  asked  whether  the  Trustees  could 
"conveniently  spare  the  Use  of  any  Room  in  the  College  to  give 
our  Lectures"  ;  concluding  with  the  assurance,  "so  to  conduct 
our  Lecture  as  not  to  injure  the  Apparatus,  incommode  the  Pro- 
fessors, nor  hurt  the  Institution."  The  share  of  Dr.  William- 
son in  this  request  ruled  it  out,  for  the  Trustees 
unanimously  resolved  that  it  would  be  improper  to  allow  any  Persons 
except  the  Professors,  to  read  Lectures  in  the  College,  but  it  was  agreed  to 
give  Mr.  Ewing  and  Dr.  Williamson  the  use  of  the  apparatus,  for  this 
season,  out  of  the  College,  agreeable  to  their  Request  at  such  times  as  shall 
not  interfere  with  Dr  Smith's  Lectures  to  the  College  Pupils,  in  his  Class, 
or  with  the  Course  he  has  engaged  to  give  at  the  Request  of  the  Medical 
Professors  to  the  Medical  Students. 

While  there  thus  seemed  to  be  a  conflict  of  service,  the 
Provost  maintained  his  jurisdiction  ;  though  it  is  difficult  now  to 
assign  a  reason  for  Professor  Ewing  adding  his  influence  to  the 
plan  of  Dr.  Williamson,  who  since  his  retirement  from  the  pro- 
fessorship of  Mathematics  four  years  prior  to  this  had  not  been 
solicited  to  renew  his  connection  with  the  College. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        477 


LXXXI. 

The  Commencement  of  1767  had  been  attended  by  Col. 
Wilkins,  a  schoolmate  of  the  Provost's  at  Aberdeen,  whose 
Regiment,  the  i8th  or  Royal  Irish  Regiment  was  then  quartered 
in  Philadelphia,  and  its  Band  had  given  accompaniment  to  the 
music  on  the  occasion,  and  supported  Hopkinson's  performance 
on  the  organ.  Dr.  Smith  was  made  Chaplain  pro  tempore  of  the 
regiment ;  and  in  the  following  spring  he  preached  a  series  of 
sermons  before  the  Regiment  on  The  Christian  Soldier's  Duty 
"  in  the  Great  Hall  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia."1  In  the  fol- 
lowing June  he  preached  twice  again  to  them,  "being  the  last 
or  farewell  to  the  said  Regiment,  then  under  marching  orders." 
These  offer  good  specimens  of  his  effective  style  in  presenting  a 
subject,  made  more  impressive  by  his  remarkable  oratorical 
powers  which  tradition  assures  us  were  unequaled  by  any 
of  the  preachers  or  speakers  of  the  time  in  the  province,  and 
the  fame  of  which  opened  to  him  the  pulpits  of  all  the  churches 
in  the  other  provinces.  It  was  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  that 
we  find  him  acting  as  Rector  of  Christ  Church  in  the  absence 
of  Dr.  Peters  at  Fort  Stanwix,  New  York,  where  a  treaty  was 
being  concluded  with  the  Indians.  Dr.  Peters  had  been  desired 
by  the  Governor  and  Council,  he  told  his  Vestry,  to  attend  the 
treaty, 

from  a  belief  that  his  long  experience  in  Indian  affairs  would  enable 
him  to  be  of  great  service  there  ;  *  *  *  he  had  consented  to  go,  and 
Dr  Smith  was  so  good  as  to  promise  to  do  his  duty  in  his  absence.* 

Dr.  Peters,  on  this  visit,  did  some  Missionary  work  among 
the  Indians,  and  baptised  many,  whose  names  on  his  return 
home  he  entered  on  the  records  of  his  Church.  His  zeal  must 
have  communicated  itself  to  some  of  his  friends  in  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Smith  writes  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  17  December,  1768  : 

I  should  be  glad  to  know  whether  any  lands  be  reserved  for  the 
church  and  Indian  Missions  upon  the  plan  formerly  mentioned.  *  *  * 


1  These  are  Nos.  ix.,  x.,  xi.,  and  xiii  in  his  Works  of  1803. 

2  Minutes  Vestry  of  Christ  Church,  5  September,  1768. 


478       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr  Peters  and  I  have  talked  seriously  about  supplying  you  with  proper 
persons  for  the  Indian  Mission,  and  on  the  whole  submit  to  you  whether  it 
were  not  best  to  have  one  or  two  pious  young  men  of  sound  principles  and 
good  education,  not  exceeding  twenty-two  years  of  age,  to  be  sent  imme- 
diately to  spend  two  years  under  your  direction  as  Catechists  and  school- 
masters, till  they  acquire  the  language  ;  others,  if  found  fit,  to  be  sent  for 
orders.  We  have  two  such  men,  who  can  speak  both  German  and  English, 
educated  in  our  College,  of  exemplary  good  behaviour  ;  one  of  them  on 
account  of  his  grandfather  Conrad  Weiser,  perhaps  might  be  particularly 
acceptable  to  the  Indians.  He  is  also  the  son  of  a  most  worthy  man,  the 
Revd  Mr  Muhlenberg,  who  married  Weiser' s  daughter,  and  is  at  the  head 
of  the  Lutheran  Churches  in  this  Province,  and  is  willing  his  son  should 
go  on  this  business  and  take  orders  in  the  Church.  The  other  is  equally 
well  qualified.3 

Young  Muhlenberg  was  Henry  Ernst,  the  youngest  son  of 
the  Patriarch  Muhlenberg;  he  received  in  1780  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  the  University  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  and  became  a  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  in  1785.  "He  passed  his  days  as  a  pious  and  devoted 
Lutheran  pastor,  adding  to  his  spiritual  cure  a  close  study  of  the 
natural  sciences,  in  which  he  obtained  eminence,  particularly 
that  of  botany."4  Who  the  other  one  recommended  by  the 
Provost  was  we  know  not ;  it  suffices  only  to  know  that  the  pro- 
ject was  not  consummated,  though  it  held  large  promise  in  offer- 
ing a  grandson  of  Conrad  Weiser  to  give  his  life  work  among 
the  Indians.  Just  seventy  years  after  this  the  University  gradu- 
ated James  Lloyd  Breck,  whose  life  work  among  the  Indians  of 
the  Northwest  has  shown  what  might  have  been  that  of  Henry 
Ernst  Muhlenberg  among  the  Indians  of  the  North  in  provin- 
cial days. 


3  Smith,  i.  418. 

*  Life  and  Work  of  William  Augustus  Muklenberg,  D.  D.,  Ayres,  p.  3. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        479 


LXXXII. 

The  year  1768  bore  in  its  calendar  "The  birthday  of 
medical  honors  in  America,"  as  it  was  happily  termed  by  the 
Provost.  The  inception  of  the  Medical  Department  has  been 
narrated  in  connection  with  the  biographical  sketch  of  Dr. 
Morgan,  to  whom  credit  is  due  as  its  founder,  though  if  the  dis- 
tinction can  be  made,  the  father  of  it  was  Thomas  Penn,  in 
whose  letter  of  15  February,  1765,  to  the  Trustees  commending 
to  them  young  Morgan's  plans,  must  be  found  the  influential 
germ  from  which  it  grew.  But  an  equal  share  in  the  honor 
of  this  paternity  must  be  granted  to  the  ever  faithful  friend  of 
the  College  Dr.  Fothergill,  who  in  a  letter  of  April  1762  to  his 
friend  James  Pemberton,  advising  him  of  sending  by  Dr.  Shippen 
a  gift  of  anatomical  subjects  and  drawings  to  the  Philadelphia 
Hospital,  says  he  recommends  to 

Dr.  Shippen  to  give  a  course  of  anatomical  Lectures  tc  such  as  may  attend. 
He  is  very  well  qualified  for  the  subject,  and  will  soon  be  followed  by  an 
able  assistant,  Dr  Morgan,  both  of  whom,  I  apprehend  will  not  only  be 
useful  to  the  Province  in  their  employments,  but  if  suitably  countenanced 
by  the  Legislature,  will  be  able  to  erect  a  School  of  Physic  amongst  you, 
that  may  draw  students  from  various  parts  of  America  and  the  West  Indies, 
and  at  least  furnish  them  with  a  better  idea  of  the  rudiments  of  their  Pro- 
fession, than  they  have  at  present  the  means  of  acquiring  on  your  side  of 
the  water.1 

The  medical  lectures  of  William  Shippen  the  younger  had 
preceded  this  action  of  the  Trustees  by  the  space  of  more  than 
two  years,  but  his  pupils  completed  their  course  under  his 
instructions  without  any  specific  honors  in  view.  Dr.  Morgan 
must  have  perceived  the  inutility  of  this,  though  he  had  at  one 
time  projected  an  alliance  with  Dr.  Shippen  in  a  course  of 
lectures.  With  lively  ingenuity  he  recognized  that  the  path  for 
such  honors  was  through  the  Philadelphia  College,  and  sub- 
mitting his  plans  to  the  Proprietary  he  found  them  warmly 


l§ee  Minutes  of  the  Hospital  Managers,  8  November,  1762.    Dr.  FothergitPs 
expectations  proved  to  be  prophecies. 


480        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

seconded,  and  the  result  was  Thomas  Penn's  commendatory 
letter.  Dr.  Morgan  accordingly  submitted  a  proposal  "  setting 
forth  his  plan  of  opening  Medical  Schools  under  the  Patronage 
and  Government  of  the  College  and  intimating  his  Desire  to  be 
appointed  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physick." 
Whereupon  the  Trustees 

duly  weighing  the  above  Letters  and  Proposal,  and  entertaining  a  high 
sense  of  Dr  Morgan's  abilities  and  the  Honors  paid  to  him  by  different 
Learned  Bodies  and  Societies  in  Europe,  they  unanimously  appointed  him 
Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physick  in  this  College. 

Thus  an  honored  alumnus  of  the  first  class  of  the  College 
became  the  founder  of  a  new  Faculty  in  the  Institution,  which 
gave  "Reputation  and  Strength"  to  it,  and  which  made  the 
first  step  in  that  University  life,  which  in  later  years  was  to  be 
enlarged  by  the  Faculty  of  Law  and  was  publicly  claimed  for 
the  institution  by  the  Provost  at  the  commencement  of  1771. 
It  was  now  in  fact  the  budding  University,  which  was  only 
legally  recognized  as  such  when  the  political  subversion  of  1779 
created  a  new  institution  in  which  the  title  University  was 
fittingly  substituted  for  that  of  College. 

Dr.  Morgan  soon  had  a  coadjutor  in  his  friend  Shippen, 
who  in  the  following  September  sent  a  communication  to  the 
Trustees  reciting  his  earlier  labors  and  asking  to  be  joined  in 
this  new  effort.  A  son  of  Princeton  as  he  was,  he  had  not 
before  thought  of  asking  to  form  a  new  Faculty  for  the  Phila- 
delphia College ;  but  Dr.  Morgan  as  its  alumnus  and  with 
the  powerful  endorsement  of  the  Penns  had  succeeded.  Dr. 
Shippen  wrote  : 

It  is  three  years  since  I  proposed  the  Expediency  and  Practicability 
of  teaching  Medicine  in  all  its  branches  in  this  City  in  a  public  oration  read 
at  the  State  House  introductory  to  my  first  course  of  anatomy.  I  should 
long  since  have  sought  the  patronage  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College,  but 
waited  to  be  joined  by  Dr  Morgan,  to  whom  I  first  communicated  my  Plan 
in  England,  and  who  promised  to  unite  with  me  in  every  scheme  we 
might  think  necessary  for  the  Execution  of  so  important  a  Point  I  am 
pleased  however  to  hear  that  you,  Gentlemen,  on  being  applied  to  by  Dr 
Morgan,  have  taken  the  Plan  under  your  Protection  and  have  appointed 
that  gentleman  Professor  of  Medicine.  A  Professorship  of  Anatomy  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        481 

Surgery  will  be  greatly  accepted  by,  Gentlemen,  your  most  obedient  and 
very  humble  servant,  \V.  Shippen,  jr. : 

and  on  this  being  read  at  a  Special  Meeting  on  23  September, 
1765,  "  the  Trustees  by  an  Unanimous  Vote  appointed  him  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  this  Seminary." 

Morgan  and  Shippen  well  bore  the  honors  of  this  Faculty 
and  trained  up  a  worthy  band  of  young  men  who  earned  their 
honors  in  1768.  But  their  number  was  added  to  in  January2  of 
this  year  by  the  appointment  of  Dr.  ADAM  KUHN,  on  his 
request,  to  the  Professorship  of  Botany  and  Materia  Medica  "the 
Trustees  having  ample  assurance  of  his  abilities  to  fill  that  Pro- 
fessorship, for  which  he  is  likewise  particularly  recommended  by 
the  Medical  Trustees  and  Professors  belonging  to  the  College 
itself."  Dr.  Kuhn  was  born  in  Germantown  in  1741,  the  son  of 
a  physician  who  was  a  native  of  Suabia.  He  was  entered  a 
pupil  in  the  Academy  in  1751,  and  in  1752  the  father  moving 
to  Lancaster  was  there  instrumental  in  establishing  a  school  in 
which  the  Greek  and  Latin  Languages  were  taught  by  eminent 
masters,  and  there  young  Kuhn  continued  his  elementary  educa- 
tion and  commenced  his  medical  studies  under  his  father.  In 
1761  he  went  to  Europe,  and  first  resorting  to  Sweden  for 
instruction  in  botany  and  materia  medica  at  the  hands  of  Lin- 
naeus, he  subsequently  went  to  Edinburgh  and  received  his 
degree  from  that  university  in  1767.  He  returned  from  Europe 
in  January,  1768,  and  at  once  received  his  Professorship.  His 
first  course  was  on  Botany  in  May  following.  He  held  the  Chair 
of  Materia  Medica  for  twenty-one  years  until  he  assumed  the 
Chair  of  Practice. 

Before  any  of  the  medical  students  could  be  prepared  for 
their  honors,  both  Morgan  and  Shippen  realised  the  value  of 
framing  rules  for  the  guidance  of  the  new  Faculty  in  examining 
them.  At  the  meeting  of  12  May,  1767, 

Dr.  Smith  laid  before  the  Board  the  following  Plan  for  conducting  the 
Medical  Education  and  conferring  Medical  Degrees  which  he  said  had  been 
prepared  at  several  private  meetings  in  which  he  had  been  present  with  the 


Minutes,  26  January,  1768. 


482        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Medical  Trustees,  viz.  Dr  Shippen,  Dr  Thomas  Bond,  Dr  Cadwalader,  Dr 
Phineas  Bond  and  Dr  Redman,  and  the  Medical  Professors  Dr  Morgan 
and  Dr  Shippen  junior. 

The  preamble  to  these  rules  is  entitled  to  a  record  here ;  its  sim- 
ple statement  of  the  situation  held  a  larger  promise  in  it  than  the 
Trustees  and  the  Provost  could  foresee  ;  they  were  building  more 
than  they  knew,  and  could  not  realize  how  large  an  influence  and 
reputation  to  their  beloved  institution  they  were  now  preparing  for 
their  successors  to  work  and  develop.  Morgan  had  founded  a 
Faculty  which  was  to  earn  for  his  Alma  Mater  a  National  posi- 
tion as  the  great  instructor  in  Medical  Science  for  long  years  to 
come,  and  its  graduates  were  to  extend  the  name  and  fame  of 
the  College  into  every  corner  of  the  land  in  a  measure  which 
could  never  be  obtained  by  any  efforts  of  the  earlier  Faculty  of 
the  College.  If  Dr.  Smith  moulded  the  College  into  a  great 
teacher,  none  the  less  did  Dr.  Morgan  earn  the  gratitude  of  suc- 
ceeding generations  in  founding  therein  the  higher  teaching  of 
the  medical  sciences  which  was  to  be  the  forerunner,  indeed  the 
leader,  in  every  attempt  of  succeeding  times  in  our  country  to 
develop  and  further  the  knowledge  of  the  healing  art.  The 
question  may  arise  where  Dr.  Morgan  received  his  impulses 
which  worked  out  this  great  movement,  and  how  came  it  that 
Philadelphia  for  so  long  a  period  held  the  preeminence  in  this 
science.  We  shall  not  be  far  wrong  in  tracing  it  to  the  seed 
planted  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  which  in  turn  was  an  out- 
growth of  the  College  when  certain  Trustees  of  the  latter  con- 
ceived the  bold  project  in  1752.  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  alike  inter- 
ested in  College  and  Hospital,  would  welcome  the  pupils  and 
graduates  of  the  former  attending  his  clinics  in  the  latter,  and 
this  interest  was  shared  by  his  fellow  Trustees  Phineas  Bond, 
the  elder  Shippen,  Cadwalader,  and  Redman.  If  certain  College 
Trustees  founded  the  Hospital,  the  return  gift  was  made  when 
the  latter  offered  a  clinical  school  to  the  former's  students  and 
alumni  to  whom  the  younger  Shippen  and  Morgan  were  now  lec- 
turing, and  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  must  be  granted  its 
honorable  meed  of  being  the  supporter  and  ally  of  the  new  Col- 
lege Faculty,  making  an  obligation  of  duty  and  reverence  which 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        483 

the  latter  can  never  overlook.  Its  continuance  to  this  day  in  a 
like  loving  association  is  a  constant  testimony  to  that  early  and 
secure  support  and  alliance,  in  which  the  new  Faculty  received 
its  best  inspiration  and  brightest  encouragement.3 

King's  College,  New  York,  was  not  long  behind  the  Phila- 
delphia enterprise  ;  and  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  Morgan's  we  can 
conceive  of  the  friendly  rivalry  between  the  two.  He  wrote  to 
his  friend,  Mr.  William  Hewson,  of  London,  20  November,  1767  : 
"  I  have  twenty  pupils  this  year  at  about  five  guineas  each.  Next 
year  we  shall  confer  the  degree  of  Bachelor  in  Physic  on  several 
of  them,  and  that  of  doctor  in  three  years  after.  New  York  has 
copied  us  and  has  six  Professors,  three  of  whom  you  know,  to 
wit :  Bard,  Professor  of  Physic  ;  Tennant  of  Midwifery  ;  and 
Smith,  in  Chemistry ;  besides  whom  are  Dr.  Jones,  Professor 
of  Surgery  ;  Middleton,  of  Physiology  ;  and  Clossy  of  Anatomy. 
Time  will  show  in  what  light  we  are  to  consider  the  rivalship  ; 
for  my  part,  I  do  not  seem  to  be  under  great  apprehension." 
King's  College  conferred  its  first  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Physic 
in  1769,  but  its  first  Doctorate  was  in  1770,  and  this  latter  gives 
King's  the  precedence  in  conferring  the  greater  degree.4 

But  to  return  to  the  Rules  of  the  Philadelphia  College 
which  were  prefaced  by  the  following  Preamble  : 

Whereas  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  by  its  Charter 
can  confer  the  usual  Degrees  granted  in  the  European  Seminaries  and  Uni- 
versities ;  and  it  being  apprehended  that  the  granting  Degrees  in  Physic  to 
Students  regularly  educated  and  properly  qualified  for  the  same,  would 
contribute  greatly  to  the  Encouragement  of  the  Medical  School  in  this  Col- 
lege, and  would  also  be  a  Means  of  putting  the  Practice  of  Physic  on  a 
more  respectable  and  useful  Footing,  especially  in  these  Parts  of  America, 
and  would  moreover  draw  many  Students  for  their  Education  to  this  city, 
which  is  advantageously  situated  for  such  an  undertaking,  in  the  Center  of 


8  So  close  has  been  the  association  between  the  hospital  and  the  medical 
school,  that  of  the  twenty-nine  professors  who  have  occupied  collegiate  chairs,  eigh- 
teen have  been  attending  physicians  or  surgeons  of  the  hospital  and  five  of  the  seven 
medical  men  first  elected  to  these  positions  in  the  hospital  were  Trustees  of  the 
College.  Dr.  Carson,  History  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  p.  37. 

4  Sir  Dr.  Hosack's  Inaugural  Discourse  Delivered  at  the  Opening  of  the  Rtit- 
gers  Medical  School  in  the  City  of  New  York,  6  November,  1826.  Also  Dr.  Carson's 
review  of  the  claims  of  King's  College,  Hist.  Mud.  Depart.  Univ.  of  Penna.,  66-67. 


484        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  Colonies;  it  was  therefore  the  Unanimous  Opinion  of  the  Gentlemen 
above  named  that  such  Degrees  in  Physic  ought  to  be  conferred  on  deserv- 
ing Students  ;  and  the  following  Qualifications  and  course  of  Studies  were 
agreed  upon  to  be  proposed  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College  in  Order  to  be 
enacted  as  requisite  to  entitle  Medical  Students  to  their  different  Degrees, 

viz: 

FOR  A  BACHELOR'S  DEGREE  IN  PHYSIC. 

1.  Such  Students  as   have   not   taken  a  Degree  in  the  Arts,  in  any 
College,  shall  before  receiving  a  Degree  in  Physic,  satisfy  the  Trustees  and 
Professors  of  this    College  of  their  Knowledge  in  the  Latin  Language   and 
such  Branches  of  Mathematics,  natural  and  experimental  Philosophy,  as 
shall  be  judged  requisite  to  a  Medical  Education. 

2.  Each  Student  shall  take  at  least  one  Course  in  Anatomy,  Materia 
Medica,  Chemistry,  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  and  Clynical  Lectures, 
and    shall  attend  the  Practice  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  One  Year, 
and   may  then    be  admitted    to    a  public    Examination  for   a    Bachelor's 
Degree,  provided  that  in  a  previous  private  Examination  by  the  Medical 
Trustees  and  Professors,  and  such  other  Trustees  and  Professors,  as  chuse 
to  attend,  he  shall  be  judged  fit  for  a  public  Examination,  without  attend- 
ing any  more  courses  in  the  Medical  School. 

3.  It  is  further  required  that  each  Student  previous  to  the  Bachelor's 
Degree  shall  have    served  a  sufficient  Apprenticeship  to  some   reputable 
Practitioner  in  Physic  and  be  able  to  make  it  appear  that  he  has  a  general 
Knowledge  in  Pharmacy. 

QUALIFICATIONS  FOR  A  DOCTOR'S  DEGREE  IN  PHYSIC. 
It  is  required  for  this  Degree  that  at  least  Three  Years  shall  have 
intervened  from  taking  the  Bachelor's  Degree,  and  that  the  Candidate  be 
full  Twenty-four  Years  of  Age  ;  who  shall  also  write  and  defend  a  Thesis 
publickly  in  College,  unless  he  should  be  beyond  Seas,  or  so  remote  on  the 
Continent  of  America,  as  not  to  be  able  to  attend  without  manifest  Incon- 
venience, in  which  case,  on  sending  a  written  Thesis,  such  as  shall  be 
approved  by  the  College,  the  Candidate  may  receive  his  Doctor's  Degree  ; 
and  his  Thesis  is  to  be  printed  and  published  at  his  own  expense. 

FEES  TO  THE  PROFESSORS. 

No  Professor  to  take  more  than  Six  Pistoles  for  a  single  course  in  any 
of  the  above  Branches,  and  after  two  courses  any  Student  may  attend  as 
many  more  as  he  pleases,  gratis. 

A  twelvemonth  elapsed  before  the  establishment  of  rules 
for  the  Examination  of  the  Students  and  regulation  of  their  fees. 
On  27  May,  1768,  the  following  were  agreed  to  : 

i.  Such  Medical  Students  as  propose  to  be  Candidates  for  Degrees 
and  likewise  such  other  Medical  Students,  as  shall  attend  the  Natural 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       485 

Philosophy  Lectures  now  given  by  the  Provost,  and  whose  names  have 
never  been  entered  in  the  College,  shall  enter  the  same,  and  pay  the  usual 
Sum  of  Twenty  Shillings  matriculation  money. 

2.  Every  Student,  on  taking  the  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Physic,  shall 
pay  not  less  than  One  Guinea  to   each    Professor   he  has  studied  under  in 
the  College  from  the  Time  of  his  entering  the  Medical  Classes  and  likewise 
the  usual  Fees  for  the  Seal  to   his   Diploma,  and    for  the   Increase  of   the 
Library. 

3.  Each  Medical  Student  who  shall  pay  one  Dollar  for  the  Use  of  the 
Library  (exclusive  of  the  Fee  at    Commencements)  shall    have   his   name 
entered  and  have  the  free  Use  of    any  books   belonging  to   the   Medical 
Library  of    the  College,  during  his   continuance   at  the  same,  and  attend- 
ance of  Lectures  under  the  Medical  Professors. 

The  fourth  and  last  rule  was  in  fact  a  request  to  Dr.  Bond 
to  keep  alive  the  connection  of  the  College  with  the  Hospital: 

4.  Dr  Thomas  Bond  is   requested  by  the   Trustees  and   Professors  to 
continue  his  Clynical  Lectures  at  the   Hospital,  as   a  Branch  of  Medical 
Education,  judged  to  be  of  great  Importance  and  Benefit  to  the  Students. 

These  Lectures  Dr.  Bond  had  begun  in  December,  1/66, 
and  his  Introductory  he  submitted  to  the  Managers  of  the 
Hospital  which  they  directed  to  be  inserted  in  the  minutes  of 
their  Board. 

Finally  the  "  Birthday  of  Medical  Honors  in  America" 
arrived,  and  on  21  June,  1768,  the  first  Medical  Commencement 
was  held.  It  is  recorded  that 

the  Trustees  being  met  at  half  an  hour  past  nine  in  the  forenoon,  and 
the  several  Professors  and  Medical  Candidates  in  their  proper  Habits,  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Apparatus  Room  to  the  public  Hall,  where  a  polite 
assembly  of  their  fellow  citizens  were  convened  to  honor  the  Solemnity. 

The  Provost  having  there  received  the  Mandate  for  the  Commence- 
ment from  his  Honour  the  Governor  as  President  of  the  Trustees,  intro- 
duced the  Business  of  the  Day  with  Prayers,  and  a  short  Latin  Oration 
suited  to  the  Occasion.  Then  followed 

1.  A  Latin  Oration  delivered  by  Mr  Lawrence,  "  De  Honoribus  qui 
omni  ALvo  in  veros  Medicinas  Cultores,  Collati  fuerint" 

2.  A  Dispute  "whether   the   Retina   or   Tunica    Choroides  DC  the 
immediate  Seat  of  Vision  ?  "     The  argument  for  the  Retina  was  ingeniously 
maintained  by  Mr  Cowell  ;  the  opposite  side  of  the  Question  was  supported 
with  great  acuteness  by  Mr   Fullerton,  who   contended   that  the  Retina  is 
incapable  of  the  office  ascribed  to  it,  on    account   of  its  being   easily  per- 
meable by  the  Rays  of  Light,  and   that   the    Choroid  Coat,  by  its   being 


486       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

opake,  is  the  proper    Part  for    Stopping    the    Rays,  and    the  receiving  the 
Picture  of  the  Object. 

3.  Num  detur  Fluidum  Nervosum  ?     Mr  Duffield  held  the  affirma- 
tive, and  Mr  Way  the  negative — both  with  great  Learning. 

4.  Mr  Tilton  delivered  an  Essay  "on    Respiration  and  the    Manner 
in  which  it  is  performed,"  which  did  credit  to  his  Abilities. 

5.  The  Provost  then  conferred  the  Degree  of  Bachelor  of  Physic  on 
the  following  gentlemen,  viz. :     Messrs  John  Archer  of  New  Castle  County, 
Benjamin  Cowell    of  Bucks,  Samuel  Duffield    of  Philadelphia,    Jonathan 
Elmer  of  West   Jersey,  Humphrey  Fullerton  of  Lancaster  County,  David 
Jackson  of  Chester  County,  John  Lawrence  of  East  Jersey,  Jonathan  Potts 
of  Philadelphia,  James  Tilton  of  Kent  County  on  Delaware,  and  Nicholas 
Way  of  Wilmington. 

6.  An  elegant  Valedictory  Oration  was  spoken  by  Mr  Potts  ' '  On  the 
Advantages  derived  in  the  Study  of  Physic,  from  a  previous  liberal  Educa- 
tion in  the  other  Sciences. 

7.  The  Provost  then  addressed   the   Graduates  in  a  brief  account  of 
the  present  State  of  this    College,  and  its    quick    Progress   in    the  various 
extensive    Establishments   it   hath    made.     He   pointed   out  the   general 
Causes  both  of  the  Rise  and  Decline  of  Sciences  and  observed  that  as  the 
present  Sett  of  Graduates  were  the  first  who  had  received   Medical  Honors 
in  America,  on  a  regular  Collegiate  Plan,  it  depended  much  on  them,  in 
their  future  conduct  and  Eminence,  to  place  such    Honors    in    Estimation 
among  their  countrymen  ;    concluding  with  an    earnest  charge  that  they 
would  never   forget  the  Opportunities  which    their  Profession  would  give 
them  (when  their  Art  perhaps  could  be  of  no  further  service  to  the  Body) 
of  making  serious  Impressions  on  their    Patients,  and  shewing  themselves 
Men  of  Consolation  and  Piety,  which  might  have  singular  Weight  from  a 
Lay  character;  adding   that  what   might    more    particularly  concern  their 
Practice,  he  had    devolved  on  a  Gentleman  of  their    own  Profession  from 
whom  it  would  come  with  greater  Propriety  and  Advantage. 

Dr  Shippen,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  then  gave  the 
Remainder  of  the  charge,  further  animating  the  Graduates  to  Support  the 
Dignity  of  their  Profession  by  a  laudable  Perseverance  in  their  Studies, 
and  by  a  Practice  becoming  the  character  of  Gentlemen  ;  adding  many 
useful  precepts  respecting  their  Conduct  towards  their  Patients,  Charity 
towards  the  Poor,  Humanity  towards  all,  and  the  Opportunities  they  might 
have  of  gaining  the  Confidence  and  Esteem  of  those  who  by  their  care 
might  be  relieved  from  Suffering  and  restored  to  Health. 

The  Vice  Provost  concluded  the  whole  with  Prayer  and  Thanks- 
giving. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        487 


LXXXIII. 

Before  another  Commencement  occurred,  a  young  physician 
who  had  well  earned  his  degree  in  a  foreign  school  was  crossing 
the  ocean  on  his  way  home  ;  and  having  heard  of  the  plans  of 
the  Trustees  in  devising  honors  for  their  medical  matriculants, 
formed  hopes  of  taking  part  in  the  medical  work  of  the  College  ; 
and  the  name  of  BENJAMIN  RUSH  is  now  to  be  added  to  this 
notable  faculty.  Young  Rush,  then  in  the  twenty-fourth  year 
of  his  age,  had  just  returned  from  completing  his  medical  studies 
abroad.  Born  in  Philadelphia  County  on  Christmas  Eve,  1745, 
he  graduated  at  Princeton  College  in  the  class  of  1760,  and 
shortly  after  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  Philadelphia  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Redman.  In  1766  he  went  to  Edinburgh 
to  further  pursue  his  studies,  where  he  secured  his  Degree  ;  and 
passed  the  earlier  months  of  1769  in  London  in  attendance  on 
its  hospitals  and  medical  lectures.  Here  he  secured  the  friend- 
ship of  Dr.  Fothergill,  and  through  him  obtained  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  Proprietary ;  and  contemplating  some  practical 
plans  for  his  work  at  home  and  possibly  looking  to  a  connection 
with  the  College  of  which  his  learned  preceptor  was  a  Trustee, 
and  to  the  advantages  of  the  Hospital  with  which  Dr.  Redman 
was  also  closely  associated,  he  submitted  his  plans  to  Thomas 
Penn,  who  wrote  the  Trustees  under  date  of  9  May,  1769  : T 

Dr  Rush  having  been  recommended  to  me  by  Dr  Fothergill  as  a 
very  expert  Chymist,  and  the  Doctor  having  further  recommended  to  me  to 
send  a  Chymical  Apparatus  to  the  College  as  a  Thing  that  will  be  of  great 
Use,  particularly  in  the  Tryal  of  Ores,  I  send  you  such  as  Dr  Fothergill 
thought  necessary,  under  the  care  of  Dr  Rush,  which  I  desire  your  accept- 
ance of.  I  recommend  Dr  Rush  to  your  Notice,  and  heartily  wishing 
Success  to  the  College,  remain  with  great  Regard,  Gentlemen,  Your  very 
affectionate  Friend,  Tho.  Penn 


1  Dr.  Carson  quotes  a  letter  from  Dr.  Rush  written  from  London  in  October, 
1768,  to  Dr.  Morgan  which  would  imply  some  certainty  on  his  part  of  being  elected 
a  Professor,  "  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  continuing  to  read  Lectures  upon  Chem- 
istry. I  hope  to  be  in  Philadelphia  in  May  or  June  next,  so  that  I  shall  relieve  you 
from  the  task  the  ensuing  winter.  Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  deliver  publickly  an 
Inaugural  Oration  ?  Something  must  be  said  in  favor  of  the  advantages  of  Chemistry 
to  Medicine,  and  its  usefulness  to  medical  philosophy,  as  the  people  of  our  country 
in  general  are  strangers  to  the  nature  and  objects  of  the  science."  History  &c.  p.  73. 


488        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

This  letter  was  presented  at  the  Meeting  of  the  Trustees  on 
23  July,  Dr.  Redman  being  present.  And  at  a  special  meeting 
held  on  i  August,  there  being  fifteen  Trustees  present,  and 
among  them  the  two  Doctors  Bond,  Dr.  Redman,  Dr.  Shippen 
and  Dr.  Cadwalader,  a  letter  from  Dr.  Rush  was  submitted 
offering  himself  as  a  candidate  for  "  the  Professorship  of  Chem- 
istry (which  Dr.  Morgan  hath  some  time  supplied),"  when  "in 
consequence  of  the  above  application  and  in  consideration  of 
Dr.  Rush's  character  as  an  able  chemist,  he  was  unanimously 
appointed  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  this  College."  Thus  was 
formed  a  connection  with  the  institution  which  continued  until 
Dr.  Rush's  death  in  1813.  Of  his  civil  and  public  services 
our  country's  history  makes  true  note  ;  and  these  in  a  measure 
reflected  with  advantage  upon  the  Faculty  of  which  he  was  a 
distinguished  member.  In  the  course  of  our  present  narrative, 
we  may  have  more  to  say  of  him,  as  in  his  professional  and 
political  life  he  became  intimately  associated  with  all  the  interests 
and  concerns  of  the  College.  The  average  age  of  the  four  pro- 
fessors, Morgan,  Shippen,  Kuhn,  and  Rush  was  under  thirty 
years;  affording  another  instance  in  the  history  of  the  College 
that  some  of  its  best  and  firmest  developments  were  the  instru- 
mentality of  young  men.  Dr.  Bond,  the  clinical  Lecturer,  as 
Dr.  Carson  humorously  records,  "only  had  arrived  at  that  age 
when  experience  is  supposed  to  bring  the  greatest  wisdom  : — 
he  was  over  fifty  years."  2 

At  the  Commencement  of  1769,  on  30  June,  eight  students 
received  their  degrees  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  :  James  Arm- 
strong, Josias  Carvill  Hall,  John  Hodge,  John  Houston,  Thomas 
Pratt,  Alexander  Skinner,  John  Wynder,  and  Myndert  Veeder. 
The  Commencement  of  5  June,  1770,  exhibited  but  one  of  these 
honors,  Thomas  Parke.  At  the  Commencement  of  28  June, 
1771,  were  conferred  seven  of  these  degrees,  viz:  Benjamin 
Alison  (of  the  class  of  1765),  Jonathan  Easton  (1768),  Frederick 
Kuhn,  John  Kuhn,  Bodo  Otto,  Robert  Pottenger,  and  William 
Smith.3  But  this  occasion  was  chiefly  notable  for  the  conferring 


2  History  Sec.  p.  75. 

3  Who  married  in  1775  the  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       489 

of  the  first  degrees  of  Doctor  of  Physic,  Messrs.  Elmer,  Potts, 
Tilton  and  Way,  the  Bachelors  of  Physic  in  the  class  of  1 768, 
being  the  recipients  of  this  honor.  The  Provost  records  this  act 
in  the  following  words  : 

They  then  presented  themselves  agreeable  to  the  rules  of  the  College, 
to  defend  in  Latin  the  Dissertations  printed  for  their  Degree  of  Doctor  in 
Physic.  Mr  Elmer's  piece,  "De  Causis  &  Remedies  Sitis  in  Febribus," 
was  impugned  by  Dr  Kuhn,  Professor  of  Botany  and  Materia  Medica.  Mr 
Pott's  "  De  Febribus  intermittentibus,  potentissimum  tertianis"  was 
impugned  by  Dr  Morgan,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic. 
Mr  Tilton' s  "  De  Hydrope"  was  impugned  by  Dr  Shippen,  Professor  of 
Anatomy.  Mr  Way's  "  De  Variolerum  Insitione"  was  impugned  by  Dr 
Rush,  Professor  of  Chemistry. 

Each  of  these  candidates,  having  judiciously  answered  the  objections 
made  to  some  Parts  of  their  Dissertations,  the  Provost  conferred  the  Degree 
of  Doctor  in  Physic  with  particular  Solemnity,  as  the  highest  mark  of 
Literary  Honor  which  they  could  receive  in  their  Profession. 

These  theses  were  submitted  in  Latin  and  were  published 
according  to  the  Rules  adopted  in  1767.* 

He  proceeds  further  in  his  Minutes  of  this  interesting  day, 
and  epitomises  Dr.  Morgan's  charge  to  these  young  Doctors. 

Dr.  Morgan,  who  was  appointed  to  that  Part  of  the  Business,  entered 
into  a  particular  Account  of  those  Branches  of  Study,  which  th#  Medical 
Gentlemen  ought  still  to  prosecute  with  unremitted  Diligence,  if  they 
wished  to  be  eminent  in  their  Profession ;  laying  down  some  useful  Rules 
for  an  honorable  Practice  in  the  Discharge  of  it.  He  observed  that  the 
"Oath  which  was  prescribed  by  Hippocrates  to  his  Disciples,  had  been 
generally  adopted  in  Universities  and  Schools  of  Physic  on  the  like  occa- 
sions, but  that  laying  aside  the  Form  of  Oaths,  this  College,  which  is  of  a 
free  Spirit,  wished  only  to  bind  its  Sons  and  Graduates  by  the  Ties  of 
Honor  and  Gratitude;  and  that  therefore  he  begged  leave  to  impress  it 
upon  those,  who  had  received  the  distinguished  Degree  of  Doctors,  that  as 
they  were  among  the  foremost  Sons  of  the  Institution,  and  the  Birth  Day 
of  Medical  Honors  in  this  New  World  had  arose  upon  tkem  with  auspi- 
cious Lustre,  they  would  in  all  their  Practice  consult  the  Safety  of  their 
Patients,  the  Good  of  the  Community,  and  the  Dignity  of  their  Profession ; 
so  as  that  the  Seminary,  from  which  they  derived  their  Titles  in  Physic, 
miirht  never  have  cause  to  be  ashamed  of  them. 


*  These  are  the  earliest  medical  inaugural  essays  published  in  America.  Copies  of 
them  are  with  either  the  American  Philosophical  Society  or  the  Library  Company  of 
Philadelphia.  They  bear  the  date  1771. 


490        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

LXXXIV. 

But  this  Commencement  of  1771  is  memorable  in  witness- 
ing the  first  public  claim  by  the  Provost  for  the  institution  of  the 
rank  and  place  of  a  University,  to  which  in  fact  it  had  attained 
in  1768,  and  which  it  has  maintained  with  honor  through  vary- 
ing changes  and  vicissitudes  to  the  present  moment.  Dr.  Smith's 
charge  to  the  graduates,  written  in  his  happiest  style,  he  gives 
in  part  in  the  Minutes,  wherein  he  observed,  he  says,  among 
things, 

That  it  is  by  slow  Degrees  the  Sciences  are  introduced  and  established 
in  any  young  Country  ;  that  there  is  perhaps  scarce  an  Instance,  where  any 
Seminary  of  Learning  although  patronized  and  supported  by  Princes,  hath, 
in  the  same  space  of  Time  come  to  equal  Perfection,  with  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  although  at  first  begun  only  by  a  few  private  Gentlemen. 
That  he  had  found  it  seventeen  ago  just  in  its  Infancy  ;  that  amid  the 
Tumults  of  War  and  many  other  Circumstances  unfavorable  to  Literature, 
it  had,  during  that  period,  been  constantly  growing  in  Usefulness  and  Rep- 
utation, that  numerous  and  illustrious  Benefactors  had  been  raised  up  for 
its  support,  that  all  the  Branches  of  Science  were  now  professed  and 
taught  in  it  on  so  liberal  a  Foundation,  that  it  would  be  entitled  not  merely 
to  the  name  of  a  College,  but  of  an  University,  in  any  Part  of  the  World; 
that  not  only  Professorships  in  the  Languages,  Mathematics,  Philosophy,  etc ; 
but  in  the  different  branches  of  Physic,  were  established  in  it,  and  that 
this  Day  saw  the  whole  plan  compleat,  as  several  Gentlemen,  who  had 
been  regularly  educated  in  the  Study  of  Physic,  and  admitted  to  their  first 
Degrees  in  this  Seminary,  were  now,  after  three  years  reputable  and  suc- 
cessful Practice,  and  after  giving  convincing  Specimens  of  their  Abilities, 
thought  worthy  of  being  admitted  to  the  Degree  of  Doctor,  the  highest 
Honor  belonging  to  their  Profession.  He  added  an  earnest  Exhortation  to 
all  the  Graduates  so  to  acquit  themselves  through  Life,  as  still  to  reflect 
fresh  Lustre  on  the  Place  of  their  Education  ;  referring  further  to  what 
might  be  said  by  the  Gentlemen,  who  was  to  give  the  Medical  Charge. 

With  two  Bachelors  in  Physic  created  in  1773,  Thomas 
Biddle  and  David  Ramsey,  the  latter  of  whom  won  his  Doctor's 
Degree  in  1780,  we  find  that  but  twenty-eight  sought  this  honor 
prior  to  the  dissolution  of  the  College  in  1779,  and  of  these  four 
only  won  their  Doctor's  Degree  in  that  time.  It  may  be  that  the 
lesser  Degree  furnished  its  possessor  with  sufficient  warrant  for 
general  practice,  and  the  active  life  thrust  upon  him  in  the  stir  of  a 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       491 

busy  population  perhaps  forbade  his  continuance  in  the  three 
years  course  prescribed  for  a  Doctor's  Degree.  The  troublous 
times  of  the  Revolution,  of  which  Philadelphia  appeared  to  be 
the  centre,  were  not  propitious  to  professional  research  or  study 
among  the  younger  people ;  but  students  were  not  wanting  in 
the  Medical  Faculty,  although  the  year  1780  had  arrived  before 
the  latter  could  bestow  any  honors  upon  them.  In  that  year  three 
Bachelors  in  Physic  were  created  ;  in  1781,  two;  in  1782,  eight, 
of  whom  were  James  Craik  and  Caspar  Wistar,  Jr. ;  in  1783, 
three;  in  1784,  eight;  in  1785,  nine,  of  whom  Edward  Miller 
received  the  Degree  of  Doctor  in  Physic  in  1789  ;  in  1786,  four, 
of  whom  Moses  Bartram  received  the  Degree  of  Doctor  in 
Physic  in  1790  and  Nicholas  B.  Waters  in  1788  ;  in  1787,  four; 
in  1788,  six,  of  whom  Francis  B.  Sayre  received  his  Doctorate 
in  1790;  in  1789,  three;  and  in  1790,  twelve,  of  whom  John 
Laws  received  his  Doctorate  in  1797.  After  1790,  no  Degrees 
of  Bachelor  of  Physic  were  conferred ;  the  whole  number  up  to 
this  time  being  ninety;  of  these,  but  ten  continued  their  studies 
and  became  entitled  to  their  Doctor's  Degree. 

From  the  absence  of  any  lists  of  students  in  the  College  we 
can  only  form  an  estimate  of  the  relative  growth  of  their  number 
from  the  Treasurer's  receipts  of  Tuition  fees.  While  in  the  year 
1752  these  were  £716.19.9  and  in  1753  £758.19.4,  they  did  not 
rise  to  £600  per  annum  until  1760,  when  they  amounted  to 
£629.7.6,  and  in  1761  the  figures  reached  £763.15.  While  in 
1762  they  were  £609.1.10.  they  were  in  1763,  £910.22,  but  in 
1764,  only  £643.11.7  Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the 
irregular  returns  of  the  Collectors,  who  were  generally  the 
younger  Tutors,  and  whose  compensation  was  two  and  a  half 
per  cent  ;  but  no  annual  returns  equalled  those  of  1763  the  year 
of  Dr.  Smith's  absence  in  England.  In  1765  they  fell  below 
£600  ;  in  1766  and  1767  they  did  not  exceed  £612  each  year; 
but  in  1768,  the  Birth  year  of  Medical  honors,  which  drew  greater 
credit  to  the  College,  the  fees  amounted  to  £751.12.6.  The 
following  three  years  the  annual  average  was  but  £529.4,  but  in 
1772  they  again  rose  to  £646.2.3^.  The  increase  in  tuition 


492        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

fees   required   by  the  depreciating  paper  currency,  made  the 
average  returns  for  1774  and  1775  amount  to  ^"722.5.5. 


Here  the  AUTHOR  lays  down  his  pen,  Jioping,  however, 
that  another  may  carry  on  the  History  of  this  University  Family, 
illustrating  its  varying  misfortunes  during  the  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle, its  quiet  life  througli  the  first  seventy  years  of  this  century,  and 
portraying  with  loving  strokes  its  enlarged  and  influential  work 
of  the  present  generation,  under  the  strong  stimulus  of  which  it  is 
prepared  to  enter  upon  its  great  career  in  the  Twentieth  Century. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  PROPOSALS  RELATING  TO  THE  EDUCATION  OF  YOUTH  IN 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

B.  PROCEEDINGS    OF  PHILADELPHIA    COUNCILS    RELATING 

TO  THE  ACADEMY   1750-1751. 

C.  FRANKLIN  AND  JOHNSON  CORRESPONDENCE. 

D.  ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  OPENING  OF  KING'S  COLLEGE. 

E.  ACCOUNT    OF  COLLEGE  AND  ACADEMY  IN   The  Ameri- 

can Magazine,  October,  1758. 

F.  LlST     OF     ALL    THE     STUDENTS     ENTERED     UP     TO     AND 

INCLUDING    1769. 


APPENDIX  A. 


PROPOSALS 

RELATING  TO  THE 

EDUCATION 

OF 
YOUTH 

IN 

PENSILVANIA 

PHILADELPHIA 

PRINTED  IN  THE  YEAR  MDCCXLIX 


ADVERTISEMENT 

TO  THE 

READER. 

IT  has  long  been  regretted  as  a  Misfortune  to  the  Youth  of  this 
Province,  that  we  have  no  ACADEMY,  in  which  they  might  receive  the 
Accomplishments  of  a  regular  Education. 

The  following  Paper  of  Hints  towards  forming  a  Plan  for  that  Pur- 
pose, is  so  far  approv'  d  by  some  pub  lick- spirited  Gentlemen,  to  whom  it 
has  been  privately  communicated,  that  they  have  Directed  a  Number  of 
Copies  to  be  made  by  the  Press,  and  properly  distributed,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  Sentiments  and  Advice  of  Men  of  Learning,  Understanding,  and 
Experience  in  these  Matters ;  and  have  determined  to  use  their  Interest 
and  best  Endeavours,  to  have  the  Scheme,  when  completed,  carried  grad- 
ually into  Execution ;  in  which  they  have  Reason  to  believe  they  shall 
have  the  hearty  Concurrence  and  Assistance  of  many  who  are  Wellwishers 
to  their  Country. 

Those  who  incline  to  favour  the  Design  with  their  Advice,  either  as 
to  the  Parts  of  Learning  to  be  taught,  the  Order  of  Study,  the  Method  of 
Teaching,  the  (Economy  of  the  School,  or  any  other  Matter  of  Importance 
to  the  Success  of  the  Undertaking,  are  desired  to  communicate  their  Senti- 
ments as  soon  as  may  be,  by  Letter  Directed  to  B.  Franklin,  Printer,  in 
Philadelphia. 

PROPOSALS,  &c. 

The  good  Education  of  Youth  has  been  esteemed  by  wise  Men  in  all 
Ages,  as  the  Surest  Foundation  of  the  Happiness  of  both  private  Families 
and  of  Common-wealths.  Almost  all  Governments  have  therefore  made 
it  a  principal  Object  of  their  Attention,  to  establish  and  endow  with  proper 
Revenues,  such  Seminaries  of  Learning,  as  might  supply  the  succeeding 
Age  with  Men  qualified  to  serve  the  Publick  with  Honour  to  themselves, 
and  to  their  Country. 


496       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Many  of  the  first  settlers  of  these  Provinces,  were  Men  who  had 
received  a  good  Education  in  Europe,  and  to  their  Wisdom  and  good 
Management  we  owe  much  of  our  present  Prosperity.  But  their  Hands 
were  full,  and  they  could  not  do  all  Things.  The  present  Race  are  not 
thought  to  be  generally  of  equal  Ability  :  For  though  the  American  Youth 
are  allow' d  not  to  want  capacity  ;  yet  the  best  Capacities  require  Cultiva- 
tion, it  being  truly  with  them,  as  with  the  best  Ground,  which  unless  well 
tilled  and  sowed  with  profitable  Seed,  produces  only  ranker  Weeds. 

That  we  may  obtain  the  Advantages  arising  from  an   Increase  of 
Knowledge,  and  prevent  as  much  as  may  be  the  mischievous  Consequences 
that  would  attend  a  general  Ignorance  among  us,  the  following  Hints  are- 
offered  towards  forming  a  Plan  for  the  Education   of  the  Youth  of  Penn- 
sylvania, viz  : 

It  is  propos'd, 

THAT  some  Persons  of  Leisure  and  publick  Spirit,  apply  for  a 
CHARTER,  by  which  they  may  be  incorporated,  with  Power  to  erect  an 
ACADEMY  for  the  Education  of  Youth,  to  govern  the  same,  provide  Mas- 
ters, make  Rules,  receive  Donations,  purchase  Lands,  &c.,  and  to  add  to 
their  Number,  from  Time  to  Time  such  other  Persons  as  they  shall  judge 
suitable. 

That  the  Members  of  the  Corporation  make  it  their  Pleasure,  and  in 
some  Degree  their  Business,  to  visit  the  Academy  often,  encourage  and 
countenance  the  Youth,  countenance  and  assist  the  Masters,  and  by  all 
Means  in  their  Power  advance  the  Usefulness  and  Reputation  of  the 
Design  ;  that  they  look  on  the  Students  as  in  some  Sort  their  children, 
treat  them  with  Familiarity  and  Affection,  and  when  they  have  behav'd 
well,  and  gone  through  their  Studies,  and  are  to  enter  the  World,  zealously 
unite,  and  make  all  the  Interest  that  can  be  made  to  establish  them, 
whether  in  Business,  Offices,  Marriages,  or  any  other  Thing  for  their 
Advantage,  preferably  to  all  other  Persons  whatsoever  even  of  equal 
Merit. 

And  if  Men  may,  and  frequently  do,  catch  such  a  taste  for  cultivating 
Flowers,  for  Planting,  Grafting,  Inoculating,  and  the  like,  as  to  despise  all 
other  Amusements  for  their  Sake,  why  may  not  we  expect  they  should 
acquire  a  Relish  for  that  more  useful  Culture  of  young  Minds.  Thompson 
says  : 

'  Tis  Joy  to  see  the  hitman  Blossoms  blow, 
When  infant  Reason  grows  apace,  and  calls 
For  the  Kind  Hand  of  an  Assiduous  Care  ; 
Delightful  Task  !  to  rear  the  tender  Thought, 
To  teach  the  young  Idea  how  to  shoot, 
To  pour  the  fresh  Instruction  o' er  the  Mind, 
To  breathe  th!  enliv  ning  Spirit,  and  to  fix 
The  generous  Purpose  in  the  glowing  Breast. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        497 

That  a  House  be  provided  for  the  ACADEMY,  if  not  in  the  Town,  not 
many  miles  from  it  ;  the  Situation  high  and  dry,  and  if  it  may  be,  not  far 
from  a  River,  having  a  Garden,  Orchard,  Meadow,  and  a  Field  or  two. 

That  the  House  be  furnished  with  a  Library  (if  in  the  Country,  if  in 
the  Town,  the  Town  Libraries  may  serve)  with  Maps  of  all  Countries, 
Globes,  some  mathematical  Instruments,  an  Apparatus  for  Experiments  in 
Natural  Philosophy,  and  for  Mechanics  ;  Prints,  of  all  Kinds,  Prospects, 
Buildings,  Machines,  &c. 

That  the  RECTOR  be  a  Man  of  good  Understanding,  good  Morals, 
diligent  and  patient,  learn' d  in  the  Languages  and  Sciences,  and  a  correct 
pure  Speaker  and  writer  of  the  English  Tongue  ;  to  have  such  Tutors  under 
him  as  shall  be  necessary. 

That  the  boarding  Scholars  diet  itogether,  plainly,  temperately,  and 
frugally. 

That  to  keep  them  in  Health,  and  to  strengthen  and  render  active 
their  Bodies,  they  be  frequently  exercis'd  in  Running,  Leaping,  Wrestling, 
and  Swimming,  &c. 

That  they  have  peculiar  Habits  to  distinguish  them  from  other 
Youth,  if  the  Academy  be  in  or  near  the  Town ;  for  this,  among  other 
Reasons,  that  their  Behaviour  may  be  the  better  observed. 

As  to  their  STUDIES,  it  would  be  well  if  they  could  be  taught  every 
Thing  that  is  useful,  and  every  Thing  that  is  ornamental  :  But  Art  is 
long,  and  their  Time  is  short.  It  is  therefore  proposed  that  they  learn 
those  Things  that  are  likely  to  be  most  useful  and  most  ornamental,  Regard 
being  had  to  the  several  Professions  for  which  they  are  intended. 

All  should  be  taught  to  write  a  fair  Hand,  and  swift,  as  that  is  useful 
to  All.  And  with  it  may  be  learnt  something  of  Drawing,  by  Imitation 
of  Prints,  and  some  of  the  first  Principles  of  Perspective. 

Arithmetick,  Accounts,  and  some  of  the  first  Principles  of  Geometry 
and  Astronomy. 

The  English  Language  might  be  taught  by  Grammar,  in  which  some 
of  our  best  Writers,  as  Tillotson,  Addison,  Pope,  Algernon  Sidney,  Catd  s 
Letters,  &c  should  be  classicks:  The  Stiles  principally  to  be  cultivated, 
being  the  clear  and  the  concise.  Reading  should  also  be  taught,  and  pro- 
nouncing, properly,  distinctly,  emphatically  ;  not  with  an  even  Tone, 
which  under-does,  nor  a  theatrical,  which  over-does  Nature. 

To  form  their  Stile,  they  should  be  put  on  Writing  Letters  to  each 
other,  making  Abstracts  of  what  they  read  ;  or  writing  the  same  Things  in 
their  own  Words  ;  telling  or  writing  Stories  lately  read,  in  their  own 
Expressions.  All  to  be  revised  and  corrected  by  the  Tutor,  who  should 
give  his  Reasons,  explain  the  Tone  and  Import  of  Words,  &c. 

To  form  their  Pronunciation,  they  may  be  put  on  making  Declama- 
tions, repeating  Speeches,  delivering  Orations,  &c.  The  Tutors  assisting 
at  the  Rehearsals,  teaching,  advising,  correcting  their  Accent,  &c. 


498        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

But  if  HISTORY  be  made  a  constant  Part  of  their  Reading,  such  as 
the  Translations  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  Historians,  and  the  modern 
Histories  of  antient  Greece  and  Rome,  &c.,  may  not  almost  all  Kinds  of 
useful  Knowledge  be  that  Way  introduced  to  Advantage,  and  with  Pleasure 
to  the  Student  ?  As 

GEOGRAPHY,  by  reading  with  Maps,  and  being  required  to  point 
out  the  Places  where  the  greatest  Actions  were  done,  to  give  their  old  and 
new  Names,  with  the  Bounds,  Situation,  Extent  of  the  Countries  con- 
cern'd,  &c. 

CHRONOLOGY,  by  the  Help  of  Helvius  or  some  other  Writer  of  the 
kind,  who  will  enable  them  to  tell  when  those  Events  happened  ;  what 
Princes  were  Cotemporaries,  what  States  or  famous  Men  flourished  about 
that  Time,  &c.  The  several  principal  Epochs  to  be  first  well  fix'd  in 
their  Memories. 

ANTIENT  CUSTOMS,  religious  and  civil,  being  frequently  mentioned 
in  History,  will  give  occasion  for  explaining  them  ;  in  which  the  Prints  of 
Medals,  Basso  Relievo's,  and  antient  Monuments  will  greatly  assist. 

MORALITY,  by  descanting  and  making  continual  Observations  on 
the  Causes  of  the  Rise  or  Fall  of  any  Man's  Character,  Fortune,  Power, 
&c.,  mentioned  in  History  ;  the  Advantages  of  Temperance,  Order,  Fru- 
gality, Industry,  Perseverance,  &c.  &c.  Indeed  the  general  natural  Ten- 
dency of  Reading  good  History,  must  be,  to  fix  in  the  Minds  of  Youth 
deep  Impressions  of  the  Beauty  and  Usefulness  of  Virtue  of  all  Kinds, 
Publick  Spirit,  Fortitude,  &c. 

History  will  show  the  wonderful  effects  of  ORATORY  in  governing, 
training  and  leading  great  Bodies  of  Mankind,  Armies,  Cities,  Nations. 
When  the  Minds  of  Youth  are  struck  with  Admiration  at  this,  then  is  the 
Time  to  give  them  the  Principles  of  that  Art,  which  they  will  study  with 
Taste  and  Application.  Then  they  may  be  made  acquainted  with  the  best 
Models  among  the  Antients,  their  Beauties  being  particularly  pointed  out 
to  them.  Modern  Political  Oratory  being  chiefly  performed  by  the  Pen 
and  Press,  its  Advantages  over  the  Antients  in  some  Respects  are  to  be 
shown  ;  as  that  its  Effects  are  more  extensive,  more  lasting,  &c. 

History  will  also  afford  frequent  Opportunities  of  showing  the 
Necessity  of  a  Publick  Religion,  from  its  Usefulness  to  the  Publick  ;  the 
Advantages  of  a  Religious  Character  among  private  Persons  ;  the  Mischiefs 
of  Superstition,  &c.,  and  the  Excellency  of  the  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION 
above  all  others  antient  or  modern, 

History  will  also  give  Occasion  to  expatiate  on  the  Advantage  of 
Civil  Orders  and  Constitutions,  how  Men  and  their  Properties  are  protected 
by  joining  in  Societies  and  establishing  Government  ;  their  Industry 
encouraged  and  rewarded,  Arts  invented,  and  Life  made  more  comfortable : 
The  Advantages  of  Liberty,  Mischiefs  of  Licentiousness,  Benefits  arising 
from  good  Laws  and  a  due  Execution  of  Justice,  &c.  Thus  may  the  first 
Principles  of  sound  Politicks  be  fixed  in  the  Minds  of  Youth. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        499 

On  Historical  Occasions,  Questions  of  Right  and  Wrong,  Justice  and 
Injustice,  will  naturally  arise,  and  may  be  put  to  Youth,  which  they  may- 
debate  in  Conversation  and  in  Writing.  When  they  ardently  desire  Vic- 
tory, for  the  Sake  of  the  Praise  attending  it,  they  will  begin  to  feel  the  Want, 
and  be  sensible  of  the  Use  of  Logic,  or  the  Art  of  Reasoning  to  discover 
Truth,  and  of  Arguing  to  defend  it,  and  convince  Adversaries.  This 
would  be  the  Time  to  acquaint  them  with  the  Principles  of  that  Art 
Grotius,  Puffendorjf,  and  some  other  Writers  of  the  same  kind,  may  be 
used  on  these  Occasions  to  decide  their  Disputes.  Publick  Disputes  warm 
the  Imagination,  whet  the  Industry,  and  strengthen  the  natural  Abilities. 

When  Youth  are  told,  that  the  Great  Men  whose  Lives  and  Actions 
they  read  in  History,  spoke  two  of  the  best  Languages  that  ever  were,  the 
most  expressive,  copious,  beautiful;  and  that  the  finest  Writings,  the  most 
correct  Compositions,  the  most  perfect  Productions  of  human  Wit  and 
Wisdom,  are  in  those  Languages  which  have  endured  Ages,  and  will  endure 
while  there  are  Men;  that  no  Translation  can  do  them  justice,  or  give  the 
Pleasure  found  in  Reading  the  Originals;  that  those  Languages  contain  all 
Science;  that  one  of  them  is  become  almost  universal,  |being  the  Language 
of  Learned  Men  in  all  Countries;  that  to  understand  them  is  a  distin- 
guishing ornament,  &c. ,  they  may  be  thereby  made  desirous  of  learning 
those  Languages,  and  their  Industry  sharpen' d  in  the  Acquisition  of  them. 
All  intended  for  Divinity  should  be  taught  the  Latin  and  Greek ;  for 
Physick,  the  Latin,  Greek  and  French  ;  for  Law,  the  Latin  and  French  ; 
Merchants,  the  French,  German,  and  Spanish;  and  though  all  should  not 
be  compel!' d  to  learn  Latin,  Greek,  or  the  modern  foreign  Languages;  yet 
none  that  have  an  ardent  Desire  to  learn  them  should  be  refused;  their 
English,  Arithmetick,  and  other  Studies  absolutely  necessary,  being  at  the 
same  Time  not  neglected. 

If  the  new  Universal  History  were  also  read,  it  would  give  a  con- 
nected Idea  of  human  Affairs,  so  far  as  it  goes,  which  should  be  followed 
by  the  best  modern  Histories,  particularly  of  our  Mother  Country;  then  of 
these  Colonies;  which  should  be  accompanied  with  Observations  on  their 
Rise,  Encrease,  Use  to  Great  Britain,  Encouragements,  Discouragements, 
&c.,  the  Means  to  make  them  flourish,  secure  their  Liberties,  £c. 

With  the  History  of  Men,  Times  and  Nations,  should  be  read  at 
proper  Hours  or  Days,  some  of  the  best  Histories  of  Nature,  which  would 
not  only  be  delightful  to  Youth,  and  furnish  them  with  Matter  for  their 
Letters,  &c.,  as  well  as  other  History;  but  afterwards  of  great  use  to  them, 
whether  they  are  Merchants,  Handicrafts,  or  Divines;  enabling  the  first  the 
better  to  understand  many  Commodities,  Drugs,  &c.,  the  second  to  im- 
prove his  Trade  or  Handicraft  by  new  Mixtures,  Materials,  &c.,  and  the 
last  to  adorn  his  Discourses  by  beautiful  Comparisons,  and  strengthen  them 
by  new  Proofs  of  Divine  Providence.  The  Conversation  of  all  will  be 
improved  by  it,  as  Occasions  frequently  occur  of  making  Natural  Observa- 


5oo       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

tions,  which  are  instructive,  agreeable  and  entertaining  in  almost  all  Com- 
panies. Natural  History  will  also  afford  Opportunities  of  introducing 
many  observations,  relating  to  the  Preservation  of  Health,  which  may  be 
afterwards  of  great  use.  Arbuthnot  on  Air  and  Aliment,  Sanctorius  on 
Perspiration,  Lemery  on  Foods,  and  some  others,  may  now  be  read,  and  a 
very  little  Explanation  will  make  them  sufficiently  intelligible  to  Youth. 

While  they  are  reading  Natural  History,  might  not  a  little  Gardening, 
Planting,  Grafting,  Inoculating,  &c.,  be  taught  and  practised,  and  now 
and  then  Excursions  made  to  the  neighboring  Plantations  of  the  best 
Farmers,  their  Methods  observ'd  and  reason' d  upon  for  the  Information  of 
Youth  ?  The  Improvement  of  Agriculture  being  useful  to  all,  and  Skill 
in  it  no  Disparagement  to  any. 

The  History  of  Commerce,  of  the  Invention  of  Arts,  Rise  of  Manu- 
factures, Progress  of  Trade,  Change  of  its  Seats,  with  the  Reasons,  Causes, 
&c.,  may  also  be  made  interesting  to  Youth,  and  will  be  useful  to  all.  And 
this  with  the  Accounts  in  other  History  of  the  prodigious  Force  and  Effect 
of  Engines  and  Machines  used  in  War,  will  naturally  introduce  a  Desire  to 
be  instructed  in  Mechanicks,  and  to  be  informed  of  the  Principles  of  that 
Art  by  which  weak  Men  perform  such  Wonders,  Labour  is  sav' d,  Manu- 
factures expedited,  &c.,  &c.  This  will  be  the  Time  to  show  them  Prints 
of  antient  and  modern  Machines,  to  explain  them,  to  let  them  be  copied, 
and  to  give  Lectures  in  Mechanical  Philosophy. 

With  the  whole  should  be  constantly  inculcated  and  cultivated,  that 
Benignity  of  Mind,  which  shows  itself  in  searching  for  and  seizing  every 
opportunity  to  serve  and  to  oblige  ;  and  is  the  Foundation  of  what  is  called 
GOOD  BREEDING  ;  highly  useful  to  the  Possessor,  and  most  agreeable 
to  all. 

The  Idea  of  what  is  true  Merit,  should  also  be  often  presented  to 
Youth,  explain' d  and  impress' d  on  their  Minds,  as  consisting  in  an  Incli- 
nation join'd  with  an  Ability  to  serve  Mankind,  one's  Country,  Friends 
and  Family;  which  Ability  is  (with  the  Blessing  of  God)  to  be  acquir'd  or 
greatly  increas'd  by  true  Learning,  and  should  indeed  be  the  great  Aim 
and  End  of  all  Learning. 


NOTE. — Thomson's  lines  are  found  near  the  close  of  his  Spring,  and  begin  : 

By  degrees 

The  human  blossom  blows  ;  and  every  day, 
Soft  as  it  rolls  along,  shows  some  new  charm, 
The  father's  lustre,  and  the  mother's  bloom. 
Then  infant  reason  grows  apace,  and  calls 
For  the  kind  hand  of  an  assiduous  care, 
Delightful  task!   &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

The  tidings  of  the  poet's  death  could  have  reached  Franklin  but  a  few  weeks 
before  making  this  quotation. — T.   H.  M. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


APPENDIX  B. 


At  a  Common   Council  held  at  Philadelphia  for  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia the30l.h  Day  of  July  1750. 


PRESENT. 


Thomas  Lawrence,  Esqr,  Mayor 

William  Allen,  Esq  r,         Recorder 

Samuel  Hassell 

Edward  Shippen 

Benj  a  Shoemaker 

Joseph  Turner 

Robert  Strettell 


Esquires, 
Aldermen. 


Septimus  Robeson 
John  Mifflin 
John  Stamper 
Benja  Franklin 
Thos  Hopkinson 
Phineas  Bond 
Tench  Francis 
Tho s  Lawrence,  jun  r 
Samuel  Rhoads 
George  Mifflin 
Wm  Coleman 


The  Recorder  acquainted  the  Board  there  is  a  Design  on  Foot 
for  the  Erecting  a  Publick  Academy  and  Charity  School  in  this  City,  for 
instructing  Youth  in  the  several  Branches  of  useful  Learning,  And  that 
divers  of  the  Inhabitants  have  subscribed  liberally  towards  it  ;  But  as  this 
Undertaking  is  attended  with  a  great  Expence  in  the  Beginning,  some 
further  Assistance  is  necessary  to  carry  it  into  Execution  in  the  best 
Manner.  And  as  this  Corporation  have  a  considerable  Sum  of  Money  in 
the  Hands  of  their  Treasurer,  and  have  likewise  an  Income  of  about  Three 
Hundred  pounds  p.  Annum,  besides  Fines  and  Forfeitures,  the  Recorder 
proposed  that  it  might  be  considered,  Whether  this  Design  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Learning,  be  not  worthy  of  some  Encouragement  from  this  Board, 
as  their  Circumstances  may  very  well  afford  it 

The  Board  having  taken  this  Affair  into  Consideration,  and  it  appear- 
ing to  be  a  Matter  of  Consequence,  and  but  a  small  Number  of  the  Mem- 
bers now  present,  it  was  thought  proper  to  referr  the  further  consideration 
thereof  to  the  next  Common  Council:  It  is  therefore  Ordered,  That  the 
Members  of  this  Board  have  Notice  to  meet  Tomorrow  at  four  a  Clock  in 
the  Afternoon,  to  consider  of  a  Proposal  of  contributing  a  Sum  of  Money 
for  the  Encouragement  of  the  Academy  &  Charity  School  now  erecting  in 
this  City. 


5O2        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


At   a  Common   Council   held  at  Philadelphia  the  3  Ist  Day  of  July 


1 7  SO- 
PRESENT. 

Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq  r ,  Mayor 
William  Allen,  Esqr,  Recorder 


Samuel  Hassell 
Anthony  Morris 
Joseph  Turner 
Robert  Strettell 
Edwd  Shippen 
Benjamin  Shoemaker 
William  Plumsted 


c 

v 

I 
•d 


W 


o 
U 

c 
o 
S 

£ 
o 
U 


Septimus  Robeson 
Tench  Francis 
Benjamin  Franklin 
Samuel  McCall,  junr 
John  Inglis 
William  Shippen 
Thomas  Bond 
Tho s  Hopkinson 
Thos  Lawrence,  junr 
Nathi  Allen 
Joseph  Sims 
George  Mifflin 
William  Coleman 
John  Wilcocks 
John  Stamper. 

The  Board  resumed  the  Consideration  of  the  Proposal  made  at  the 
last  Common  Council,  of  contributing  a  Sum  of  Money  for  the  Encourage- 
ment of  the  Academy  &  Charity  School  now  erecting  in  this  City  ;  And  a 
Paper  containing  an  Account  of  what  is  already  done  by  the  Trustees  of  the 
Academy,  and  what  Advantages  are  expected  from  that  Undertaking  being 
laid  before  the  Board,  was  read,  and  follows  in  these  Words  : 

,  The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  have  already  laid  out  near  ,£800,  in 
the  Purchase  of  the  Building,  and  will  probably  expend  near  as  much  more 
in  fitting  up  Rooms  for  the  Schools,  &  furnishing  them  with  proper  Books, 
&  Instruments  for  the  Instruction  of  Youth. 

,  The  greatest  Part  of  the  Money  paid  &  to  be  paid  is  subscribed  by 
the  Trustees  themselves,  and  advanced  by  them  ;  Many  of  whom  have  no 
children  of  their  own  to  educate,  but  act  from  a  View  to  the  Publick  Good, 
without  Regard  to  sect  or  party.  And  they  have  engaged  to  open  a  Charity 
School  within  two  Years  for  the  Instruction  of  Poor  Children  gratis,  in 
Reading,  Writing  and  Arithmetick,  and  the  first  Principles  of  Virtue  and 
Piety . 

The  Benefits  expected  from  this  Institution  are  : 

,  i.  That  the  Youth  of  Pensilvania  may  have  an  Opportunity  of 
receiving  a  good  Education  at  home,  and  be  under  no  necessity  of  going 
abroad  for  it  ;  Whereby  not  only  considerable  Expense  may  be  saved  to 
the  Country,  but  a  stricter  Eye  may  be  had  over  their  morals  by  their 
Friends  and  Relations. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        503 

2,  That  a  Number  of  our  Natives  will  be  hereby  qualified  to  bear  Magis- 
tracies, and  execute  other  public  offices  of  Trust,  with  Reputation  to  them- 
selves &  Country  ;  there  being  at  present  great  Want  of  Persons  so  quali- 
fied in  the  several  Counties  of  this  Province.  And  this  is  the  more 
necessary  now  to  be  provided  for  by  the  English  here,  as  vast  Numbers  of 
Foreigners  are  yearly  imported  among  us,  totally  ignorant  of  our  Laws, 
Customs,  and  Language. 

,3.  That  a  Number  of  the  poorer  Sort  will  hereby  be  qualified  to 
act  as  Schoolmasters  in  the  Country,  to  teach  Children  Reading,  Writing, 
Arithmetic,  and  the  Grammar  of  their  Mother  Tongue  ;  and  being  of  good 
morals  and  known  character,  may  be  recommended  from  the  Academy  to 
Country  Schools  for  that  purpose  ;  The  Country  suffering  at  present  very 
much  for  want  of  good  Schoolmasters,  and  oblig'd  frequently  to  employ  in 
their  Schools,  vicious  imported  Servants,  or  concealed  Papists,  who  by 
their  bad  Examples  and  Instructions  often  deprave  the  Morals  or  corrupt 
the  Principles  of  the  Children  under  their  Care. 

,4.  It  is  thought  that  a  good  Academy  erected  in  Philadelphia,  a 
healthy  place  where  Provisions  are  plenty,  situated  in  the  Center  of  the 
Colonies,  may  draw  numbers  of  Students  from  the  neighbouring  Provinces, 
who  must  spend  considerable  Sums  yearly  among  us,  in  Payment  for 
their  Lodging,  Diet,  Apparel,  &c.,  which  will  be  an  Advantage  to  our 
Traders,  Artisans  and  Owners  of  Houses  and  Lands.  This  Advantage  is 
so  considerable,  that  it  has  been  frequently  observed  in  Europe,  that  the 
fixing  a  good  School  or  College  in  a  little  inland  Village,  has  been  the 
means  of  making  it  a  great  Town  in  a  few  Years  ;  and  therefore  the  mag- 
istrates of  many  Places,  have  offer' d  and  given  great  yearly  salaries,  to 
draw  learned  Instructors  from  other  Countries  to  their  respective  Towns, 
merely  with  a  View  to  the  Interest  of  the  Inhabitants. 

,  Numbers  of  people  have  already  generously  subscribed  considerable 
sums  to  carry  on  this  Undertaking  ;  but  others,  well  disposed,  are  some- 
what discouraged  from  contributing,  by  an  Apprehension,  lest  when  the 
first  Subscriptions  are  expended,  the  Design  should  drop. 

.The  great  Expence  of  such  a  Work  is  in  the  Beginning.  If  the 
Academy  be  once  well-open' d,  good  Masters  provided,  and  good  Orders 
established,  there  is  Reason  to  believe  (from  many  former  Examples  in 
other  Countries)  that  it  will  be  able  after  a  few  years  to  support  itself. 

,  Some  Assistance  from  the  Corporation  is  immediately  wanted  and 
hoped  for  ;  and  it  is  thought  that  if  this  Board,  which  is  a  perpetual  Body, 
take  the  Academy  under  their  Patronage,  and  afford  it  some  Encourage- 
ment, it  will  greatly  strengthen  the  Hands  of  all  concerned,  and  be  a 


504        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

means  of  Establishing  this  good  Work,  and  continuing  the  good  Effects  of 
it  down  to  our  late  Posterity. 

The  Board  having  weighed  the  great  Usefulness  of  this  Design,  after 
several  Propositions  heard  &  debated,  agreed  That  a  Sum  of  Money  be 
given  by  this  Board  &  paid  down,  towards  compleating  the  Building 
which  the  Trustees  have  purchased,  and  are  now  fitting  up  for  the 
Purpose  ;  and  likewise,  that  a  Sum  or  Sums  be  given  yearly  by  this  Board, 
for  five  Years  to  come,  towards  the  support  &  Maintenance  of  the  Schools 
under  the  Direction  of  the  said  Trustees.  Whereupon  the  following 
Questions  were  put  and  carried  in  the  Affirmative. 

I .  Whether  this  Board  will  give  the  Sum  of  Two  Hundred  Pounds, 
to  be  paid  immediately  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  towards  compleat- 
ing the  Building  purchased  by  the  said  Trustees  for  an  Academy  &  Charity 
School  in  this  City  ?  Which  was  carried  in  the  Affirmative  by  a  great 
Majority. 

2.  Whether  this  Board  will  give  Fifty  pounds  p.  annum  for  five  years 
next  ensuing,  to  The  Trustees  of  The  Academy,  towards  supporting  a 
Charity  School  for  the  Teaching  of  poor  Children  Reading,  Writing  and 
Arithmetick  ? 

Which  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 

3.  Whether  this  Board  will  give  Fifty  Pounds  p.  annum  for  the  five 
years  next  ensuing,  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  for  the  Benefit  thereof, 
with  Condition  that  this  Board  shall  have  a  Right  of  nominating  and  send- 
ing one  Scholar  Yearly  from  the  Charity  School,  to  be  instructed  gratis 
in  the  Academy  ,  in  any  or  all  of  the  Branches  of  Learning  there  taught  ? 
Which  was  carried  in  the  Affirmative  by  a  great  Majority. 

At  a  Common  Council  held  for  the  City  of  Philadelphia  the  2ist  Day 
of  March,  1750-51. 

PRESENT 

Common  Council  Men 

William  Plumsted,  Esqre,  Mayor  Joshua  Maddox 

Tench  Francis,  Esqre,  Recorder  Samuel  Rhoads 


Robert  Strettell 
Anthony  Morris 
Thomas  Lawrence 
Edward  Shippen 
Samuel  Hasell 


s 


John  Stamper 
Israel  Pemberton 
Joseph  Morris 


5f  2  Benjamin  Franklin 

William  Logan 
George  Mifflin 
William  Coleman 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        505 

Alderman  Lawrence  acquainted  the  Board  that  the  Sum  of  One  Hun- 
dred Pounds  is  due  to  him  from  this  Corporation,  being  his  Salary  as 
Mayor  of  this  City  for  the  last  Year,  pursuant  to  a  Vote  of  this  Board  of 
the  1 8th  of  September,  1747,  whereby  it  was  resolved  that  such  Salary 
should  be  paid  to  the  Mayor  of  this  City  for  the  three  Years  then  next 
ensuing  ;  And  that,  as  some  late  Mayors,  in  lieu  of  an  Entertainment,  had 
given  a  Sum  of  Money  for  some  publick  Use,  he  was  inclined  to  follow  the 
Example,  and  proposed  to  give  the  Sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  for  the 
Use  of  the  Academy  in  this  City  ;  which  Proposal  was  approved  of  by  a 
great  Majority  ;  And  at  Alderman  Lawrence's  Request,  the  Treasurer  of 
this  Corporation  is  order' d  to  pay  the  said  Sum  to  William  Coleman  in 
Behalf  of  the  Trustees  of  the  said  Academy,  for  the  Use  aforesaid. 


506       HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 
APPENDIX  C. 


BERKELEY,  JOHNSON,  AND  FRANKLIN  CORRESPONDENCE. 
FROM  DR.  BEARDSLEY'S  LIFE  OF  SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  D.  D. 

BISHOP  BERKELEY  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Cloyne,  August  23,  1749. 

REV.  SIR, — I  am  obliged  for  the  account  you  have  sent  me  of  the 
prosperous  estate  of  learning  in  your  College  of  New  Haven.  I  approve 
of  the  regulations  made  there,  and  am  particularly  pleased  to  find  your 
sons  have  made  such  a  progress  as  appears  from  their  elegant  address  to 
me  in  the  Latin  tongue.  It  must  indeed  give  me  a  very  sensible  satisfac- 
tion to  hear  that  my  weak  endeavors  have  been  of  some  use  and  service  to 
that  part  of  the  world.  I  have  two  letters  of  yours  at  once  on  my  hands 
to  answer,  for  which  business  of  various  kinds  must  be  my  apology.  As 
to  the  first,  wherein  you  inclosed  a  small  pamphlet  relating  to  tar-water,  I 
can  only  say  in  behalf  of  those  points  in  which  the  ingenious  author 
seems  to  dissent  from  me,  that  I  advance  nothing  which  is  not  grounded 
on  experience,  as  may  be  seen  at  large  in  Mr.  Prior's  narrative  of  the 
effects  of  tar-water,  printed  three  or  four  years  ago,  and  which  may  be 
supposed  to  have  reached  America. 

For  the  rest,  I  am  glad  to  find  a  spirit  towards  learning  prevail  in 
those  parts,  particularly  New  York,  where  you  say  a  College  is  projected, 
which  has  my  best  wishes.  At  the  same  time  I  am  sorry  that  the  condi- 
tion of  Ireland,  containing  such  numbers  of  poor  uneducated  people,  for 
whose  sake  Charity  Schools  are  erecting  throughout  the  kingdom,  obligeth 
us  to  draw  charities  from  England  ;  so  far  are  we  from  being  able  to  extend 
our  bounty  to  New  York,  a  country  in  proportion  much  richer  than  our 
own.  But  as  you  are  pleased  to  desire  my  advice  upon  this  undertaking, 
I  send  the  following  hints  to  be  enlarged  and  improved  by  your  own 
judgment. 

I  would  not  advise  the  applying  to  England  for  charters  or  statutes 
(which  might  cause  great  trouble,  expense,  and  delay),  but  to  do  the  busi- 
ness quietly  within  themselves. 

I  believe  it  may  suffice  to  begin  with  a  President  and  two  Fellows. 
If  they  can  procure  but  three  fit  persons,  I  doubt  not  the  college  from  the 
smallest  beginnings  would  soon  grow  considerable  :  I  should  conceive  good 
hopes  were  you  at  the  head  of  it. 

Let  them  by  all  means  supply  themselves  out  of  the  seminaries  in 
New  England  (who  are  willing  to  go)  worth  sending. 

Let  the  Greek  and   Latin  classics  be  well  taught.     Be  this  the  first 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       507 

care  as  to  learning.  But  the  principle  care  must  be  good  life  and  morals 
to  which  (as  well  as  to  study)  early  hours  and  temperate  meals  will  much 
conduce. 

If  the  terms  for  degrees  are  the  same  as  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
this  would  give  credit  to  the  College,  and  pave  the  way  for  admitting  their 
graduates  ad  eundem  in  the  English  Universities. 

Small  premiums  in  books,  or  distinctions  in  habit,  may  prove  useful 
encouragements  to  the  students. 

I  would  advise  that  the  building  be  regular,  plain,  and  cheap,  and 
that  each  student  have  a  small  room  (about  ten  feet  square)  to  himself. 

I  recommended  this  nascent  seminary  to  an  English  bishop,  to  try 
what  might  be  done  there.  But  by  his  answer  it  seems  the  colony  is 
is  judged  rich  enough  to  educate  its  own  youth. 

Colleges  from  small  beginnings  grow  great  by  subsequent  bequests 
and  benefactions.  A  small  matter  will  suffice  to  set  one  a  going.  And 
when  this  is  once  well  done,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  will  grow  and  thrive. 
The  chief  concern  must  be  to  set  out  in  a  good  method,  and  introduce, 
from  the  very  first,  a  good  taste  into  the  society.  For  this  end  the  princi- 
pal expense  should  be  in  making  a  handsome  provision  for  the  President 
and  Fellows. 

I  have  thrown  together  these  few  crude  thoughts  for  you  to  ruminate 
upon,  and  digest  in  your  own  udgment,  and  propose  from  yourself,  as  you 
see  convenient 

My  correspondence  with  patients  who  drink  tar  water,  obliges  me  to 
be  less  punctual  in  corresponding  with  my  friends.  But  I  shall  be  always 
glad  to  hear  from  you.  My  sincere  good  wishes  and  prayers  attend  you 
in  all  your  laudable  undertakings. 

I  am  your  faithful,  humble  servant, 

G.  CLOYNE. 

MR.  FRANKLIN  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Philadelphia,  Atig.  9,  1750. 

REV.  SIR, — At  my  return  home  I  found  your  favor  of  June  the  28th, 
with  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne'  s  letter  inclosed,  which  I  will  take  care  of,  and 
beg  leave  to  keep  a  little  longer. 

Mr.  Francis,  our  Attorney  General,  who  was  with  me  at  your  house, 
from  the  conversation  then  had  with  you,  and  reading  some  of  your  pieces, 
has  conceived  an  esteem  for  you  equal  to  mine.  The  character  we  have 
given  of  you  to  the  other  trustees,  and  the  sight  of  your  letters  relating  to 
the  academy,  has  made  them  very  desirous  of  engaging  you  in  that  design, 
as  a  person  whose  experience  and  judgment  would  be  of  great  use  in  form- 
ing rules  and  establishing  good  methods  in  the  beginning,  and  whose  name 
for  learning  would  give  it  a  reputation.  We  only  lament,  that  in  the 
infant  state  of  our  funds,  we  cannot  make  you  an  offer  equal  to  your  merit. 


508        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

But  as  the  view  of  being  useful  has  most  weight  with  generous  and  benevo- 
lent minds,  and  in  this  affair  you  may  do  great  service  not  only  to  the 
present  but  to  future  generations,  I  flatter  myself  sometimes  that  if  you 
were  here,  and  saw  things  as  they  are,  and  conversed  a  little  with  our 
people,  you  might  be  prevailed  with  to  remove.  I  would  therefore  earnestly 
press  you  to  make  us  a  visit  as  soon  as  you  conveniently  can  ;  and  in  the 
mean  time  let  me  represent  to  you  some  of  the  circumstances  as  they 
appear  to  me. 

1.  The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  are  applying  for  a  charter,  which 
will  give  an  opportunity  of  improving  and  modeling  our  Constitution  in 
such  a  manner  as,  when  we  have  your  advice,  shall  appear  best.      I  suppose 
we  shall  have  power  to  form  a  regular  college. 

2.  If  you  would  undertake  the  management  of  the  English  Education, 
I  am  satisfied  the  trustees  would,  on  your  account,  make  the  salary  ,£100 
sterling,  (they  have  already  voted  ,£150  currency  which  is  not  far  from  it), 
and  pay  the  charge  of  your  removal.     Your  son  might  also  be  employed 
as  tutor  at  ^60  or  perhaps  £70  per  annum. 

3.  It  has  been  long  observed,   that  our  church  is  not  sufficient  to 
accommodate  near  the  number  of  people  who  would  willingly  have  seats 
there.     The  buildings  increase  very  fast  towards  the  south  end  of  the  town, 
and  many  of  the  principal  merchants  now  live  there  ;  which  being  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  present  church,  people  begin  to  talk  much 
of  building  another,  and  ground  has  been  offered  as  a  gift  for  that  purpose. 
The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  are  three  fourths  of  them   members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  the  rest  men  of  moderate  principles.     They  have 
reserved   in  the  building  a  large  hall   for    occasional    preaching,   public 
lectures,  orations,  etc.  ;  it  is  70  feet  by  60,   furnished  with  a  handsome 
pulpit,  seats,  etc.     In  this  Mr.  Tennent  collected  his  congregation  who  are 
now  building  him  a  meeting-house.     In  the  same  place,  by  giving  now 
and  then  a  lecture,  you  might,  with  equal  ease,  collect  a  congregation  that 
would  in  a  short  time  build  you  a  church,  if  it  should  be  agreeable  to  you. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  imagine  you  will  receive  something  considerable 
yearly,  arising  from  marriages  and  christenings  in  the  best  families,  etc. , 
not  to  mention  presents  that  are  not  unfrequent  from  a  wealthy  people  to  a 
minister  they  like  ;  and  though  the  whole  may  not  amount  to  more  than  a 
due  support,  yet  I  think  it  will  be  a  comfortable  one.  And  when  you  are 
well  settled  in  a  church  of  your  own,  your  son  may  be  qualified  by  years 
and  experience  to  succeed  you  in  the  Academy  ;  or  if  you  rather  choose  to 
continue  in  the  Academy,  your  son  might  probably  be  fixed  in  the  Church. 

These  are  my  private  sentiments  which  I  have  communicated  only  to 
Mr.  Francis,  who  entirely  agrees  with  me.  I  acquainted  the  trustees  that 
I  would  write  to  you,  but  could  give  them  no  dependence  that  you  would 
be  prevailed  on  to  remove.  They  will,  however,  treat  with  no  other  till  I 
have  your  answer. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       509 

You  will  see  by  our  newspaper,  which  I  inclose,  that  the  Corporation 
of  this  city  have  voted  ^200  down  and  ^100  a  year  out  of  their  revenues 
to  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy.  As  they  are  a  perpetual  body,  choosing 
their  own  successors,  and  so  not  subject  to  be  changed  by  the  caprice  of  a 
governor  or  of  the  people,  and  as  18  of  the  members  (some  the  most 
leading)  are  of  the  trustees,  we  look  on  this  donation  to  be  as  good  as  so 
much  real  estate  ;  being  confident  it  will  be  continued  as  long  as  it  is  well 
applied,  and  even  increased,  if  there  should  be  occasion.  We  have  now 
near  ,£5,000  subscribed,  and  expect  some  considerable  sums  besides  may 
be  procured  from  the  merchants  of  London  trading  hither.  And  as  we  are 
in  the  centre  of  the  Colonies,  a  healthy  place,  with  plenty  of  provisions, 
we  suppose  a  good  Academy  here  may  draw  numbers  of  youth  for  educa- 
tion from  the  neighboring  Colonies,  and  even  from  the  West  Indies. 

I  will  shortly  print  proposals  for  publishing  your  pieces  by  subscrip- 
tion, and  disperse  them  among  my  friends  along  the  continent.  My 
compliments  to  Mrs.  Johnson  and  your  son  ;  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker 
your  good  neighbors. 

I  am,  with  great  esteem  and  respect,  Sir, 

Your  most  humble  servant, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 

P.  S. — There  are  some  other  things  best  treated  of  when  we  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you.  It  begins  now  to  be  pleasant  travelling.  I  wish 
you  would  conclude  to  visit  us  in  the  next  month  at  farthest.  Whether 
the  journey  produce  the  effect  we  desire  or  not,  it  shall  be  no  expense  to 
you. 

DR.  PETERS  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Philadelphia,  Aug.  6,  1750. 

REVEREND  SIR, — I  am  obliged  to  you  for  the  honor  you  did  me  in 
your  compliments  by  Mr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Francis.  They  said  so  many 
good  things  of  your  abilities  and  inclinations  to  promote  useful  knowledge, 
and  the  Trustees  of  the  Academy  are  so  much  in  want  of  your  advice  and 
assistance,  that,  though  personally  unknown  to  you,  I  must  take  the  free- 
dom, from  a  hint  that  such  a  journey  would  not  be  disagreeable  to  you,  to 
give  you  an  invitation  to  my  house.  Let  me,  good  Sir,  have  the  pleasure 
of  conversing  with  a  gentleman  whose  character  I  have  a  long  time  esteemed, 
and  provided  your  journey  be  not  between  the  2oth  October  and  ist  Novem- 
ber, when  I  am  obliged  to  attend  the  Governor  and  Assembly  at  New 
Castle,  I  will  meet  you  at  Trenton  or  Brunswick,  or  any  other  place  you 
shall  appoint  I  will  tell  you  beforehand,  that  can  my  friends  or  I  find  any 
expedient  to  engage  your  residence  among  us,  I  will  leave  nothing  unat- 
tempted  in  the  power  of,  Reverend  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  brother  and  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  PETERS. 


5  TO        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

DR.  JOHNSON  TO  DR.  PETERS, 
(from  Dr.   Johnson's  draft) 

Aug.  1 6. 

SIR, — I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  the  honor  you  have  done 
me  in  writing  so  kind  and  polite  a  letter  to  me,  who  am  a  perfect  stranger 
to  you,  a  person  whose  real  character  I  doubt  you  will  find  much  below 
what  the  candor  of  the  openly  friendly  gentlemen  have  represented.  You 
will  see  by  my  letter  to  Mr.  Franklin  what  difficulties  lie  in  my  way  with 
regard  to  my  residence  among  you,  which  otherwise  would,  doubtless,  be 
vastly  agreeable  to  me.  However,  as  I  do  think  in  earnest,  if  practicable, 
to  make  a  tour  to  Philadelphia  in  acknowledgment  of  the  great  kindness 
you  express  towards  me,  I  shall  most  gratefully  accept  of  your  kind  invita- 
tion, and  let  you  know  beforehand  when  to  expect  me.  If  I  can  come  at 
all  it  will  be  before  the  time  you  mention,  but  I  would  first  see  my  brethren 
here  together  at  our  Commencement  on  the  ad  week  in  Sept,  by  convers- 
ing with  whom  I  shall  be  the  better  able  to  make  adjustment  whether  a 
remove  would  be  practicable.  Meantime, 

I  remain,  Sir,  etc., 

S.  J. 

MR.  FRANKLIN  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Philadelphia,  Aug.  23,  1750. 

DEAR  SIR, — We  received  your  favor  of  the  i6th  inst.  Mr.  Peters 
will  hardly  have  time  to  write  to  you  per  this  post,  and  I  must  be  short. 
Mr  Francis  spent  the  last  evening  with  me,  and  we  were  all  glad  to  hear 
that  you  seriously  meditate  a  visit  after  the  middle  of  next  month,  and  that 
you  will  inform  us  by  a  line  when  to  expect  you.  We  drank  your  health 
and  Mrs  Johnson' s,  remembering  your  kind  entertainment  of  us  at  Strat- 
ford. 

I  think,  with  you,  that  nothing  is  of  more  importance  for  the  public 
weal,  than  to  form  and  train  up  youth  in  wisdom  and  virtue.  Wise  and 
good  men  are,  in  my  opinion,  the  strength  of  a  State  much  more  so  than 
riches  or  arms,  which,  under  the  management  of  ignorance  and  wicked- 
ness, often  draw  on  destruction,  instead  of  providing  for  the  safety  of  the 
people.  And  though  the  culture  bestowed  on  many  should  be  successful 
only  with  a  few,  yet  the  influence  of  those  few,  and  the  service  in  their 
power,  may  be  very  great.  Even  a  single  woman,  that  was  wise  by  her 
wisdom  saved  a  city. 

I  think,  also,  that  general  virtue  is  more  probably  to  be  expected  and 
obtained  from  the  education  of  youth  than  from  the  exhortation  of  adult 
persons;  bad  habits  and  vices  of  the  mind  being,  like  diseases  of  the  body, 
more  easily  prevented  than  cured.  I  think,  moreover,  that  talents  for  the 
education  of  youth  are  the  gift  of  God;  and  that  he  on  whom  they  are 
bestowed,  whenever  a  way  is  opened  for  the  use  of  them,  is  as  strongly 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        511 

called  as  if  he  heard  a  voice  from  heaven.     Nothing  more  surely  pointing 
out  duty,  in  a  public  service,  than  ability  and  opportunity  of  performing  it 

I  have  not  yet  discoursed  with  Dr.  Jenney  concerning  your  removal 
hither.  You  have  reason,  I  own,  to  doubt  whether  your  coming  on  the 
foot  I  proposed  would  not  be  disagreeable  to  him,  though  I  think  it  ought 
not  For  should  his  particular  interest  be  somewhat  affected  by  it,  that 
ought  not  to  stand  in  competition  with  l\\t  general  good ;  especially  as  it 
cannot  be  much  affected,  he  being  old,  and  rich,  and  without  children.  I 
will  however  learn  his  sentiments  before  the  next  post  But,  whatever  influ- 
ence they  might  have  on  your  determinations  about  removing,  they  need 
have  none  on  your  intention  of  visiting.  And  if  you  favor  us  with  the 
visit,  it  is  not  necessary  that  you  should  previously  write  to  him  to  learn 
his  dispositions  about  your  removal,  since  you  will  see  him,  and  when  we 
are  all  together  those  things  may  be  better  settled  in  conversation  than  by 
letters  at  a  distance.  Your  tenderness  of  the  Church's  peace  is  truly  laud- 
able; but,  methinks,  to  build  a  new  church  in  a  growing  place  is  not 
properly  dividing'  but  multiplying ;  and  will  really  be  a  means  of  increas- 
ing the  number  of  those  who  worship  God  in  that  way.  Many  who  cannot 
now  be  accommodated  in  the  church  go  to  other  places  or  stay  at  home; 
and  if  we  had  another  church,  many,  who  go  to  other  places  or  stay  at 
home,  would  go  to  church.  I  suppose  the  interest  of  the  Church  has  been 
far  from  suffering  in  Boston  by  the  building  of  two  churches  there  in  my 
memory.  I  had  for  several  years  nailed  against  the  wall  of  my  house,  a 
pigeon-box  that  would  hold  six  pair;  and  though  they  bred  as  fast  as  my 
neighbor's  pigeons,  I  never  had  more  than  six  pair;  the  old  and  strong 
driving  out  the  young  and  weak,  and  obliging  them  to  seek  new  habita- 
tions. At  length  I  put  up  an  additional  box,  with  apartments  for  enter- 
taining twelve  pair  more,  and  it  was  soon  filled  with  inhabitants,  by  the 
overflowing  of  my  first  box  and  of  others  in  the  neighborhood.  This  I 
take  to  be  a  parallel  case  with  the  building  of  a  new  church  here. 

Your  years,  I  think,  are  not  so  many  as  to  be  an  objection  of  any 
weight,  especially  considering  the  vigor  of  your  constitution.  For  the 
small-pox,  if  it  should  spread  here,  you  might  inoculate  with  great  proba- 
bility of  safety  ;  and  I  think  that  distemper  generally  more  favorable  here 
than  further  northward.  Your  objection  about  the  politeness  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  your  imagined  rusticity,  is  mere  compliment  ;  and  your  diffidence 
of  yourself  absolutely  groundless.  My  humble  respects,  if  you  please,  to 
your  brethren  at  the  Commencement.  I  hope  they  will  advise  you  to  what 
is  most  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  and  then  I  think  they  will  advise  you  to 
move  hither. 

Please  to  tender  my  best  respects  and  service  to  Mrs.  Johnson  and 
your  son. 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obliged  and  affectionate,  humble  serv1, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 


512        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

MR.   FRANKLIN  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  your  illness.  If  you  have  not  been 
used  to  the  fever-and-ague  let  me  give  you  one  caution .  Don' t  imagine 
yourself  thoroughly  cured,  and  so  omit  the  use  of  the  bark  too  soon. 
Remember  to  take  the  preventing  doses  faithfully.  If  you  were  to  continue 
taking  a  dose  or  two  every  day  for  two  or  three  weeks  after  the  fits  have 
left  you,  'twould  not  be  amiss.  If  you  take  the  powder  mixed  quick  in  a 
tea-cup  of  milk,  'tis  no  way  disagreeable,  but  looks  and  even  tastes  like 
chocolate.  "Pis  an  old  saying  :  That  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a 
pound  of  cure, — and  certainly  a  true  one,  with  regard  to  the  bark  ;  a  little 
of  which  will  do  more  in  preventing  the  fits  than  a  great  deal  in  removing 
them. 

But  if  your  health  would  permit  I  should  not  expect  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  soon.  The  small-pox  spreads  apace,  and  is  now  in  all  quarters; 
yet  as  we  have  only  children  to  have  it,  and  the  Doctors  inoculate  apace,  I 
believe  they  will  soon  drive  it  through  the  town  ;  so  that  you  may  possibly 
visit  us  with  safety  in  the  spring.  In  the  meantime  we  should  be  glad  to 
know  the  result  you  came  to  after  consulting  your  brethren  at  the  Com- 
mencement. Messrs.  Peters  and  Francis  have  directed  me  on  all  occa- 
sions to  present  their  compliments  to  you.  Please  to  acquaint  me  if  you 
propose  to  make  any  considerable  additions  to  the  "Ethics,"  that  I  may 
be  able  in  the  proposals  to  compute  the  bigness  of  the  book. 

I  am,  with  sincere  esteem  and  respect,  dear  Sir, 

Your  most  obliged  humble  servant, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 
Philadelphia,  September  13,  1750. 

Inclosed  I  return  the  good  Bishop's  letter  with  thanks. 

MR.  FRANKLIN  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Philadelphia,  December  24,  1751. 

DEAR  SIR, — I  received  your  favor  of  the  i  ith  inst  and  thank  you  for 
the  hint  you  give  of  the  omission  in  the  ' '  Idea. ' '  The  ' '  Sacred  Classics ' ' 
are  read  in  the  English  school,  though  I  forgot  to  mention  them .  And  I 
shall  propose  at  the  meeting  of  the  Schools,  after  the  Holidays,  that  the 
English  master  begin  and  continue  to  read  select  portions  of  them  daily 
with  the  prayers  as  you  advise. 

But  if  you  can  be  thus  useful  to  us  at  this  distance,  how  much  more 
might  you  be  so  if  you  were  present  with  us,  and  had  the  immediate 
inspection  and  government  of  the  schools.  I  wrote  to  you  in  my  last  that 
Mr  Martin  our  Rector  died  suddenly  of  a  quinsy.  His  body  was  carried 
to  the  Church,  respectfully  attended  by  the  trustees,  all  the  masters  and 
scholars  in  their  order,  and  a  great  number  of  the  citizens.  Mr.  Peters 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  gave  him  the  just  and  honorable  char- 
acter he  deserved.  The  schools  are  now  broke  up  for  Christmas,  and  will 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.       513 

not  meet  again  till  the  yth  of  January.  Mr.  Peters  took  care  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  School  after  Mr.  Martin's  death  till  the  breaking  up.  And  Mr. 
Allison,  a  dissenting  minister,  has  promised  to  continue  that  care  for  a 
month  after  their  next  meeting.  Is  it  impossible  for  you  to  make  us  a  visit 
in  that  time  ?  I  hope  by  the  next  post  to  know  something  of  your  senti- 
ments, that  I  may  be  able  to  speak  more  positively  to  the  Trustees  con- 
cerning the  probability  of  your  being  prevailed  with  to  remove  hither. 

The  English  master  is  Mr.  Dove,  a  gentleman  about  your  age,  who 
formerly  taught  grammar  sixteen  years  at  Chichester  in  England.  He  is 
an  excellent  master,  and  his  scholars  have  made  a  surprising  progress. 

I  shall  send  some  of  the  "(Economies"  to  Mr.  Havens  per  next  post 
If  you  have  a  spare  one  of  your  "Essays  on  the  Method  of  Study,"  the 
English  edition,  please  to  send  it  me. 

My  wife  joins  in  the  compliments  of  the  season  to  you  and  Mrs. 
Johnson,  with,  dear  Sir, 

Your  affectionate  humble  servant, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 

DR.  JOHNSON  TO  MR.  FRANKLIN. 
(From  Dr.  Johnson's  Draft.) 

DEAR  SIR, — I  now  write  my  most  thankful  acknowledgments  for 
your  two  kind  letters  of  December  24  and  January  8,  and  have  received 
your  most  obliging  letters  of  the  summer  before  last,  to  which  you  refer 
me.  There  was  one  of  August  23,  to  which  I  did  not  make  a  particular 
reply  by  reason  of  my  illness  at  that  time.  In  that  you  reasoned,  I  own, 
in  a  very  forcible  manner  upon  the  head  of  duty.  You  argued  that  ability, 
with  opportunity,  manifestly  pointed  out  duty,  as  though  it  were  a  voice 
from  Heaven.  This,  Sir,  I  agree  to,  and  therefore  have  always  endeavored 
to  use  what  little  ability  I  have  that  way  in  the  best  manner  I  could,  having 
never  been  without  pupils  of  one  sort  or  other  half  year  at  a  time,  and 
seldom  that,  for  thirty-eight  years.  And,  thank  God,  I  have  the  great  satisfac- 
tion to  see  some  of  them  in  the  first  pulpits,  not  only  in  Connecticut,  but  also 
in  Boston  and  New  York,  and  others  in  some  of  the  first  places  in  the  land. 
But  I  am  now  plainly  in  the  decline  of  life,  both  as  to  activity  of  body  and 
vigor  of  mind,  and  must,  therefore,  consider  myself  as  being  an  Emeritus, 
and  unfit  for  any  new  situation  in  the  world  or  to  enter  on  any  new  business, 
especially  at  such  a  distance  from  my  hitherto  sphere  of  action  and  my 
present  situation,  where  I  have  as  much  duty  on  my  hands  as  I  am  capable 
of  and  where  my  removal  would  make  too  great  a  breach  to  be  counter- 
vailed by  any  good  I  am  capable  of  doing  elsewhere,  for  which  I  have  but  a 
small  chance  left  for  much  opportunity.  So  that  I  must  beg  my  good 
friends  at  Philadelphia  to  excuse  me,  and  I  pray  God  they  may  be  directed 
to  a  better  choice.  And  as  Providence  has  so  unexpectedly  provided  so 


514        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

worthy  a  person  as  Mr.  Dove  for  your  other  purpose,  I  hope  the  same  good 
Providence  will  provide  for  this.  I  am  not  personally  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Winthrop,  the  Professor  at  Cambridge,  but  what  I  have  heard  of  him, 
perhaps  he  might  do.  But  I  rather  think  it  would  be  your  best  way  to  try 
if  you  cannot  get  some  friend  and  faithful  gentleman  at  home,  of  good 
judgment  and  care,  to  inquire  and  try  if  some  worthy  Fellow  of  one  or 
other  of  the  Universities  could  not  be  obtained.  Perhaps  Mr.  Peters  or 
Mr.  Dove  may  know  of  some  acquaintance  of  theirs,  that  might  do  likely  : 
dulcius  ex  ipsis  fortibus.  Your  son  intimated  that  you  had  thought  of  a 
voyage  home  yourself ;  if  you  should  you  might  undoubtedly  look  out  a 
fit  person  to  be  had,  and  you  had  better  do  as  you  can  for  some  time  than  not 
be  well  provided.  I  could,  however,  wish  to  make  you  a  visit  in  the  Spring, 
if  the  way  were  safe,  but  it  seems  the  small-pox  is  propagating  at  New  York, 
and  perhaps  you  will  be  scarcely  free  of  it  Meantime  you  have,  indeed, 
my  heart  with  you  as  though  I  were  ever  so  much  with  you  in  presence,  and  if 
there  were  any  good  office  in  my  power  you  might  freely  command  it.  I 
thank  you  for.  sending  the  two  sheets  of  my  "Noetica"  which  are  done 
with  much  care.  I  find  no  defects  worth  mentioning  but  what  were 
probably  my  own.  At  page  62,  1.  19,  there  should  have  been  a(  ;)  after 
"universal,"  and  1.  2ia(;)  after  "affirmative."  On  reviewing  the 
former  sheets  I  observe  a  neglect,  p.  30,  1.  24,  "on  account  of  which, " 
and  p.  36,  1.  3,  there  should  be  a  (,  )  after  "is." 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  Short  and  the  Almanac  and  my 
wife  for  hers.  I  have  had  five  parcels  of  the  "(Economies  "  and  Fisher. 
I  think  you  told  me  they  were  a  dollar  each  parcel,  besides  that  of  Havens, 
who  desires  you  to  send  him  another  parcel,  and  begs  you  to  send  one  or 
more  of  your  pieces  on  "Electricity,"  published  in  England.  By  your 
son's  account  I  am  much  charmed  with  this,  and  beg  if  you  have  a  spare 
copy  to  send  it  me.  And  as  you  desire  a  copy  of  my  "  Introduction, " 
since  I  had  many  sent  me  from  home,  I  send  a  half  dozen  of  which  with 
my  humble  service  to  Messrs:  Peters  and  Francis  and  your  son,  pray  them 
to  accept  each  a  copy.  My  wife  and  son ,  with  me ,  desire  our  service  may 
be  acceptable  to  them  and  Mrs.  Franklin  and  your  son. 

I  am ,  Sir ,  etc. 

S.  J. 

MR.  FRANKLIN  TO  DR.  JOHNSON. 

Philadelphia,  July,  2,  — 52. 

REV.  SIR, — I  have  sent  you,  via  New  York,  twenty-four  of  your 
books  bound  as  those  I  sent  per  post.  The  remainder  of  the  fifty  are 
binding  in  a  plainer  manner,  and  shall  be  sent  as  soon  as  done  and  left  at 
Mr.  Stuyvesant'  s  as  your  order. 

Our  Academy,  which  you  so  kindly  inquire  after,  goes  on  well. 
Since  Mr.  Martin' s  death  the  Latin  and  Greek  School  has  been  under  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        515 

care  of  Mr.  Allison,  a  Dissenting  Minister,  well  skilled  in  those  lan- 
guages and  long  practiced  in  teaching.  But  he  refused  the  Rectorship,  or 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  government  of  the  other  schools.  So  that 
remains  vacant,  and  obliges  the  Trustees  to  more  frequent  visits.  We 
have  now  several  young  gentlemen  desirous  of  entering  on  the  study  of 
Philosophy,  and  Lectures  are  to  be  opened  this  week.  Mr.  Allison  under- 
takes Logic  and  Ethics,  making  your  work  his  text  to  comment  and  lecture 
upon.  Mr.  Peters  and  some  other  gentlemen  undertake  the  other 
branches,  till  we  shall  be  provided  with  a  Rector  capable  of  the  whole, 
who  may  attend  wholly  to  the  instructions  of  youth  in  the  higher  parts  of 
learning  as  they  come  out  fitted  from  the  lower  schools.  Our  proprietors 
have  lately  wrote  that  they  are  extremely  well  pleased  with  the  design,  will 
take  our  Seminary  under  their  patronage,  give  us  a  charter,  and,  as  an 
earnest  of  their  benevolence,  Five  Hundred  Pounds  sterling.  And  by 
our  opening  a  Charity  School,  in  which  near  one  hundred  poor  children 
are  taught  Reading,  Writing,  and  Arithmetic,  with  the  rudiments  of  reli- 
gion, we  have  gained  the  general  good  will  of  all  sorts  of  people,  from 
whence  donations  and  bequests  may  be  reasonably  expected  to  accrue  from 
time  to  time.  This  is  our  present  situation,  and  we  think  it  a  promising 
one  ;  especially  as  the  reputation  of  our  schools  increases,  the  masters 
being  all  very  capable  and  diligent  and  giving  great  satisfaction  to  all  con- 
cerned. I  have  heard  of  no  exceptions  yet  made  to  your  work,  nor  do  I 
expect  any,  unless  to  those  parts  that  savor  of  what  is  called  Berkeley- 
anism,  which  is  not  well  understood  here.  When  any  occur  I  shall  com- 
municate them. 

With  great  esteem  and  respect,  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obliged  humble  serv'  t, 

B.  FRANKLIN. 


516       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
APPENDIX  D. 

ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  KING'S  COLLEGE. 

May  31,  1754. 
ADVERTISEMENT. 

To  such  Parents  as  have  now  (or  expect   to  have)  children  prepared 
to  be  educated  in  the  College  of  New  York. 

I .  AS  the  Gentlemen  who    are    appointed  by  the  Assembly,  to  be 
Trustees  of  the  intended  Seminary  or  College  of  New  York,  have  thought 
fit  to  appoint  me  to  take  Charge  of    it,  and  have  concluded  to  set  up   a 
Course  of   Tuition  in  the   learned  Languages,  and  in  the  liberal  Arts  and 
Sciences  ;  They  have  judged  it  advisable,  that  I  should  publish  this  Adver- 
tisement, to  inform  such  as  have  Children  ready  for  a  College  Education, 
that  it  is  proposed  to  begin   Tuition  upon  the  first  Day  of  July  next,  at  the 
Vestry  Room  in  the   new  School  Hotise,  adjoining  to    Trinity   Church  in 
New  York,  which  the  Gentlemen  of    the  Vestry  are  so  good  as  to  favour 
them  with  the  Use  of  in  the  Interim,  till  a  convenient  Place  may  be  built. 

II.  The  lowest  Qualifications  they  have  judged  requisite,  in  order  to 
Admission  into  the  said  College,  are  as  follows,  viz.  :  That  they  be  able  to 
read  well,  and  write  a  good  legible  Hand  ;  and  that  they  be  well  versed  in 
the  Five  first  Rules  in  Arithmetic,  i.  e.  as  far  as  Division  and  Reduction  ; 
and  as  to  Latin   and    Greek,   That  they  have    a  good  Knowledge  in  the 
Grammars,  and  be  able    to  make  grammatical    Latin,  and   both  in  con- 
struing and  parsing,  to   give  a  good   Account  of  two  or  three  of  the  first 
Orations  of  lully,  and  of  the  first  Books  of    Virgil ' s  ^Eneid,  and  some  of 
the  first  Chapters  of    the    Gospel  of    St.  John,  in    Greek.      In  these  Books 
therefore  they  may  expect  to  be  examined  ;  but  higher  Qualifications  must 
hereafter  be  expected  :    and  if   there  be  any  of  the  higher  Classes  in  any 
College,  or  under    private    Instruction,  that  incline   to    come  hither,  they 
may  expect  Admission  to  proportionably  higher  classes  here. 

III.  And  that  People  may  be    the  better   satisfied    in    sending  their 
Children  for    Education   to  this   College,  it  is  to  be  understood,  that  as  to 
Religion,  there  is  no    Intention    to    impose   on  the   Scholars,  the  peculiar 
Tenets  of  any  particular  Sect  of    Christians  ;    but  to    inculcate  upon  their 
tender  minds,  the  great   Principles  of    Christianity  and  Morality,  in  which 
true  Christians  of    each    Denomination   are   generally  agreed.     And  as  to 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       517 

the  daily  Worship  in  the  College  Morning  and  Evening,  it  is  proposed 
that  it  should,  ordinarily,  consist  of  such  a  Collection  of  Lessons,  Prayers 
and  Praises  of  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church,  as  are  for  the  most  Part,  taken 
out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  such  as  are  agreed  on  by  the  Trustees,  to 
be  in  the  best  Manner  expressive  of  our  common  Christianity  ;  and  as  to 
any  peculiar  Tenets,  ever)'  one  is  left  to  judge  freely  for  himself,  and  to 
be  required  only  to  attend  constantly  at  such  Places  of  Worship,  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  as  their  Parents  or  Guardians  shall  think  fit  to  order  or  permit 

IV.  The  chief  Thing  that  is  aimed  at  in  this  College  is,  to  teach  and 
engage  the  Children   to  know   God  in  Jesus   Christ,  and  to  love  and  serve 
him,  in  all  Sobriety,  Godliness  and  Righteousness  of   Life,  with  a  perfect 
Heart  and  Willing  Mind ;    and  to  train    them  up  in  all  virtuous  Habits, 
and  all  such  useful    Knowledge   as   may  render   them   creditable  to  their 
Families   and   Friends,   Ornaments  to   their   Country,  and    useful   to  the 
public  Weal  in  their  Generations.     To  which  good  Purposes,  it  is  earnestly 
desired,  that  their  Parents,  Guardians,  and  Masters,  would  train  them  up 
from  their  Cradles  under  strict  Government,  and  in  all  Seriousness,  Virtue 
and  Industry,  that   they  may  be  qualified  to    make  orderly  and    tractable 
members  of  this  Society  ; — and,  above  all,  that  in  order  hereunto,  they  be 
very  careful  themselves,  to  set   them   good   Examples   of   true   Piety  and 
Virtue  in  their  own  Conduct     For   as  Examples   have   a  very  powerful 
Influence   over  young   Minds,  and   especially  those  of    their   Parents,  in 
vain  are  they  solicitous  for  a  good  Education  for  their  Children,  if  they 
themselves  set  before    them  Examples  of  Impiety  and  Profaneness,  or  of 
any  sort  of  Vice  whatsoever. 

V.  And,  lastly,  a  serious,  virtuous,   and  industrious  Course  of  Life, 
being  first  provided  for,  it  is  further  the  Design  of  this  College,  to  instruct 
and  perfect  the  Youth  in  the  learned  Languages,  and  in  the  Arts  of  reason- 
ing exactly,  of   writing    correctly,  and  speaking   eloquently  ;    and  in  the 
Arts  of  numbering  and  measuring;  of  Surveying  and  Navigation,  of  Geog- 
raphy and  History,   of  Husbandry,    Commerce  and    Government,  and  in 
the  Knowledge  of  all  Nature  in  the  Heavens  above  us,  and  in  the  Air, 
IVater  and  Earth  around   us,  and  the  various  kinds  of   Meteors,   Stones, 
Mines  and  Minerals,  Plants  and  Animals,  and  of  everything  useful  for  the 
Comfort,  the  Convenience  and  Elegance  of  Life,  in  the  chief  Manufactures 
relating  to  any  of  these  Things  :     And    finally,  to  lead   them   from   the 
Study  of  Nature  to   the    Knowledge  of    themselves,  and  of  the  God  of 
Nature,  and  their  Duty  to  him,  themselves,  and  one  another,  and  every 
Thing  that  can  contribute  to  their  true  Happiness,  both  here  and  hereafter. 

Thus  much,  Gentlemen,  it  was  thought  proper  to  advertise  you  of 
concerning  the  Nature  and  Design  of  this  College  :  And  I  pray  God,  it 
may  be  attended  with  all  the  Success  you  can  wish,  for  the  best  Good  of 


518        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

the  rising  Generations  ;  to  which,  (while  I  continue  here)  I  shall  willingly 
contribute  my  Endeavours  to  the  Utmost  of  my  Power. 
Who  am,  Gentlemen, 

Your  real  Friend, 

And  most  humble  Servant, 

SAMUEL  JOHNSON. 

N.  B.  The  Charge  of  the  Tuition  is  established  by  the  Trustees  to 
to  be  only  253.  for  each  Quarter. 

The  New  York  Gazette:  or   Weekly  Post  Boy,  June  3,  1754. 

This  is  to  acquaint  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  I  shall  attend  at 
the  vestry  room,  in  the  school-house,  near  the  English- Church  on  Tues- 
days and  Thursdays,  every  Week,  between  the  hours  of  nine  and  twelve, 
to  examine  such  as  offer  themselves  to  be  admitted  into  the  college. 

S .  JOHNSON. 
The  New  York  Mercury,  Monday,  July  I,  1754. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA         519 
APPENDIX  E. 


Account  of  the  College  and  Academy  in 

The  American  Magazine,  October,  1758,  p.  630  lit.  seq. 
[Written  by  Provost  Smith.] 

To  THE  PROPRIETORS,  &c. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

AMONG  your  various  publications  for  the  Advancement  of  virtue  and 
literature  I  observe  that  you  have  hitherto  given  no  account  of  the  College 
and  Academy  of  this  place,  altho'  you  have  no  doubt  been  beholden  to  the 
members  of  that  institution  for  many  of  those  monthly  performances, 
which  have  been  so  considerable  an  ornament  to  your  work.  To  supply  that 
defect  you  will,  therefore,  accept  from  me  the  following  brief  and  genuine 
account  of  its  Rise,  Progress,  and  present  state. 

In  the  year  1749,  a  number  of  private  gentlemen,  who  had  long 
regretted  it  as  misfortune  to  the  youth  of  this  province,  that  we  had  no 
public  Seminary,  in  which  they  might  receive  the  accomplishments  of  a 
regular  education,  published  a  paper  of  hints  and  proposals  for  erecting  an 
academy  in  this  city.  They  observed  very  justly  that  the  good  education 
of  youth  has  been  esteemed  by  wise  men  in  all  ages,  the  surest  foundation, 
both  of  private  and  public  happiness;  and  that  it  has  been  the  principal 
concern  of  every  well-regulated  government  to  establish  and  endow  proper 
seminaries  for  the  advancement  of  learning,  and  for  training  up  a  succes- 
sion of  men,  fit  to  serve  their  country  in  every  useful  station.  Many  of  the 
first  settlers  of  these  provinces,  (it  was  observed  further)  were  men  who  had 
received  a  good  education  in  Europe,  and  to  their  wisdom  and  good  man- 
agement we  owe  much  of  our  present  prosperity.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
obvious  that  without  making  a  provision  for  cultivating  wisdom  and  good- 
ness in  the  rising  generation,  we  would  soon  degenerate  into  a  state  of  igno- 
rance and  barbarity,  little  better  than  that  of  our  Neighbour-Savages,  and 
be  neither  able  to  preserve  nor  enjoy  the  inestimable  blessings,  delivered 
down  to  us  from  our  fathers.  To  prevent  these  dreadful  misfortunes,  was 
the  design  of  those  who  projected  this  institution ;  a  design  that  will  do 
honor  to  their  names  as  long  as  any  memorial  of  virtue  and  letters  shall 
remain  in  their  country;  and  a  design  in  which  they  can  boast  all  the 
Sages  and  Lawgivers  and  Patriots  of  every  age,  as  their  patterns  and  fellow 
labourers,  for  the  propagation  of  wisdom  and  good  of  their  species  ! 

This  design  was  not  long  formed  before  it  was  carried  into  execution. 
At  first,  only  three  persons  were  concerned  in  forming  it,  two  of  whom  are 
since  dead,  and  the  other  now  in  England.  These  communicated  their 
thoughts  to  others,  till  at  last  the  number  of  twenty-four  joined  themselves 


520       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

together,  as  Trustees  for  carrying  on  the  work,  and  agreed  never  to  exceed 
that  number,  which  was  composed  without  any  regard  to  difference  in  reli- 
gious persuasions,  of  creditable  gentlemen  of  various  professions  and 
callings . 

The  scheme  being  made  public,  with  the  names  of  the  gentlemen 
undertakers,  all  was  so  well  approved  of,  that  in  a  very  short  time  the  sub- 
scription for  carrying  it  on  amounted  to  Eight  Hundred  Pounds  per  annum, 
for  five  years,  a  very  strong  proof  of  the  public  spirit  and  generosity  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  place  !  In  the  beginning  of  January,  1750,  three  of  the 
schools  were  opened,  namely  the  Latin  School,  the  Mathematical  School 
and  the  English  School,  the  two  former  under  men  who  had  long  been 
known  in  the  country  as  sufficiently  qualified  for  the  business;  and  the 
latter  under  a  person  who,  being  accidentally  in  the  place,  offered  his 
service  and  was  accepted  for  a  time  upon  trial.  For  it  had  always  been 
considered  as  a  very  leading  part  of  the  design,  to  have  a  good  school  in 
the  mother  tongue,  and  to  be  well  satisfied  of  the  abilities  and  assiduity  of 
the  person  entrusted  with  the  care  of  it,  before  any  final  agreement,  which 
had  likewise  been  made  a  rule  in  providing  masters  for  the  other  schools. 
Oratory,  correct  Speaking  and  Writing  the  Mother  Tongue,  is  a  branch 
of  education  too  much  neglected  in  all  our  English  Seminaries,  as  is  often 
visible  in  the  public  performances  of  some  of  our  most  learned  men.  But 
in  the  circumstances  of  this  province,  such  a  neglect  would  have  been 
still  more  inexcusable,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  British  dominions . 
For  as  we  are  so  great  a  mixture  of  people,  from  almost  all  corners  of  the 
world,  necessarily  speaking  a  variety  of  languages  and  dialects,  the  true 
pronunciation  and  writing  of  our  own  language  might  soon  be  lost  among 
us,  without  such  a  previous  care  to  preserve  it  in  the  rising  generation. 

Thus  this  Seminary  opened  with  three  masters  in  the  branches  of 
education  most  immediately  necessary  to  prepare  the  youth  for  public  life, 
and  the  higher  parts  of  learning.  All  the  trustees,  and  a  great  concourse 
of  the  inhabitants  were  present  at  the  Opening  when  the  service  of  the 
Church  of  England  was  read,  and  a  suitable  sermon  preached  by  the  rev- 
erend Mr.  Peters,  Provincial  Secretary,  from  St.  John  viii.  32,  And  ye  shall 
know  the  Truth,  and  the  Truth  shall  make  you  Free. 

This  worthy  gentleman  (who  amid  all  the  labours  of  his  public  station, 
as  well  as  the  many  private  labours  in  which  his  benevolence  continually 
engages  him,  has  still  made  it  his  care  to  devote  some  part  of  his  time  to 
Classical  Learning  and  the  Study  of  Divinity,  to  which  he  was  originally 
bred)  took  occasion,  from  these  words  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  to  shew  the 
intimate  connexion  between  Truth  and  Freedom,  between  Knowledge  of 
every  kind,  and  the  preservation  of  civil  and  religious  Liberty .  For  it  has 
ever  been  found  that  where  the  Former  is  not,  the  latter  cannot  subsist. 

The  institution,  thus  begun,  continued  daily  to  flourish,  in  so  much 
that  all  the  schools  soon  stood  in  need  of  ushers  and  assistants  to  the  chief 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        521 

masters.  At  length  encouraged  by  such  a  fair  beginning,  the  Trustees 
applied  to  the  honourable  Proprietors  for  a  charter  of  Incorporation,  which 
they  obtained  in  July  ,  1753.  At  that  time  the  institution  consisted  of 
three  schools  above  mentioned,  and  two  Charity  Schools. 

In  the  space  of  about  4  years,  from  the  first  opening,  it  was  fourjd 
that  many  youths,  having  gone  thro'  their  course  of  Grammar- Learning, 
would  be  desirous  of  proceeding  to  Philosophy  and  the  Sciences,  and  must 
depart  to  other  Seminaries  unless  a  provision  was  made  for  compleating 
their  studies  here.  This  being  represented  to  the  Trustees,  they  began  to 
think  of  enlarging  their  plan,  as  they  had  promised  at  the  beginning. 
They  were  highly  sensible  that  the  knowledge  of  Words,  without  making 
them  subservient  to  the  knowledge  of  Things,  could  never  be  considered 
as  the  business  of  education.  To  lay  a  foundation  in  the  Languages,  was 
very  necessary  as  a  first  step,  but  without  the  superstructure  of  the  Sciences 
it  would  be  but  of  little  use  for  the  conduct  of  Life.  The  bare  study  of 
words  could  never  be  designed  as  the  chief  object  of  man's  reasoning  and 
intellectual  faculties .  Our  Maker  had  something  more  sublime  in  view; 
and  to  stop  short  of  that  end  is  to  be  greatly  wanting  to  ourselves,  in  a 
matter  of  the  last  importance. 

In  consideration  of  this,  the  trustees  determined  to  complete  the 
remainder  of  their  plan,  and  applied  for  an  Addition  to  their  Charter,  by 
which  a  power  of  conferring  degrees  and  appointing  Professors  in  the 
various  branches  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  was  granted  to  them.  By  this 
means  a  COLLEGE  was  added  to,  and  ingrafted  upon  their  former  Academy, 
a  joint  government  agreed  upon  for  both,  the  style  of  the  trustees  changed 
to  that  of — ' '  Trustees  of  the  College,  Academy  and  Charity  School  of 
Philadelphia,'"''  and  the  Professors  constituted  under  them  into  one  body 
or  faculty,  by  the  name  of  ' '  The  Provost,  Vice  Provost  and  Professors  of  the 
College  and  Academy  of  Philadelphia."  This  charter  was  obtained  May 
I4th,  1755.  What  further  relates  to  the  government  of  this  institution 
shall  be  mentioned,  after  giving  a  view  of  the  plans  of  education  pursued 
in  it,  which  I  am  to  do  under  two  heads.  The  first  shall  be  the  plan  of 
education  in  the  college  or  higher  part  of  the  institution,  including  the 
Latin  and  Greek  schools,  which  shews  the  course  gone  thro'  by  those 
intended  for  the  learned  professions.  The  second  shall  be  what  is  properly 
called  the  Academy,  shewing  the  course  of  learning  intended  for  those  who 
are  bred  for  the  mechanic  arts  and  other  professions. 

Probably  some  youths  will  go  thro'  these  stages  in  three  years,  many 
will  require  four  years,  and  many  more  may  require  five  years,  especially 
if  they  begin  under  nine  or  ten  years  of  age.  The  masters  must  exercise 
their  best  discretion  in  this  respect. 

Those  who  can  acquit  themselves  to  satisfaction  in  the  books  laid 
down  for  the  fourth  stage,  after  public  examination,  are  to  proceed  to  the 
study  of  the  sciences,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the  College  as  Freshmen, 


522       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

with  the  privilege  of  being  distinguished  with  an  under-graduate'  s  gown. 
The  method  of  study  to  be  prosecuted  in  the  college  for  the  term  of  three 
years  follows  in  one  general  view. 

[Given  on  pp.  236  to  239.] 

Along  with  this  plan,  which  was  first  published  in  August,  1756, 
and  subscribed  by  the  Faculty  of  masters,  the  following  remarks  were 
also  published,  viz.:  "Life  itself  being  too  short  to  attain  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  the  whole  circle  of  the  Sciences,  nothing  has  ever  been 
proposed  by  any  plan  of  University-Education,  but  to  lay  such  a  general 
foundation  in  all  the  branches  of  literature,  as  may  enable  youth  to  perfect 
themselves  in  those  particular  parts,  to  which  their  business,  or  genius, 
may  afterwards  lead  them.  And  scarce  any  thing  has  more  obstructed  the 
advancement  of  sound  learning,  than  a  vain  imagination,  that  a  few  years, 
spent  at  college,  can  render  youth  such  absolute  Masters  of  Science,  as  to 
absolve  them  from  all  future  study." 

"As  far  as  our  influence  extends,  we  would  wish  to  propagate  a 
contrary  doctrine,  and  tho'  we  flatter  ourselves  that,  by  a  due  execution  of 
the  foregoing  plan,  we  shall  enrich  our  country  with  many  Minds,  that  are 
literally  accomplished,  and  send  out  none  that  may  justly  be  denominated 
barren,  or  unimproved  ;  yet  we  hope  that  the  youth  committed  to  our 
tuition,  will  neither  at  college,  nor  afterwards,  rest  satisfied  with  such  a 
general  knowledge,  as  is  to  be  acquired  from  the  public  lectures  and  exer- 
cises. We  rather  trust  that  those,  whose  taste  is  once  formed  for  the 
acquisition  of  Solid  Wisdom,  will  think  it  their  duty  and  most  rational 
satisfaction,  to  accomplish  themselves  still  farther,  by  manly  perseverance 
in  private  study  and  meditation." 

"To  direct  them  in  this  respect,  the  last  column  contains  a  judicious 
choice  of  the  most  excellent  writers  in  the  various  branches  of  literature, 
which  will  be  easily  understood  when  once  a  foundation  is  laid  in  the 
books  proposed  in  the  plan,  under  the  several  lectures.  For  the  books  to 
be  used  as  Classics,  at  the  lecture  hours,  will  not  be  found  in  this  last 
column,  which  is  only  meant  as  a  private  library,  to  be  consulted  occasion- 
ally in  the  lectures,  for  the  illustration  of  any  particular  part ;  and  to  be 
read  afterwards  for  compleating  the  whole." 

"  The  last  book  in  the  catalogue  is  the  HOLY  BIBLE,  without  which 
the  student's  library  would  be  very  defective.  But  tho'  it  stands  last,  we 
do  not  mean  that  they  are  to  defer  reading  it  to  the  last,  it  being  part  of 
our  daily  exercise,  and  recommended  from  the  beginning.  We  only  inti- 
mate, by  this  disposition,  that,  when  human  science  has  done  its  utmost, 
and  when  we  have  thought  the  youth  worthy  of  the  honors  of  the  Semi- 
nary, yet  still  we  must  recommend  them  to  the  Scriptures  of  God,  in  order 
to  compleat  their  Wisdom,  to  regulate  their  conduct  thro'  life,  and  guide 
them  to  happiness  forever  !" 

"In  the  disposition  of  the  parts  of  this  scheme,  a  principal  regard 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        523 

has  been  paid  to  the  connexion  and  subserviency  of  the  Sciences,  as  well 
as  to  the  gradual  openings  of  young  minds.  Those  parts  are  placed  first, 
which  are  suited  to  strengthen  the  inventive  Faculties,  and  are  instrumental 
to  what  follows.  Those  are  placed  last,  which  require  riper  judgment,  and 
are  more  immediately  connected  with  the  main  business  of  life." 

"  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  proposed  that  they  shall  never  drop  their 
acquaintance  with  the  classic  sages.  They  are  every  day  called  to  converse 
with  some  one  of  the  ancients,  who,  at  the  same  time  that  he  charms  with 
all  the  beauties  of  language,  is  generally  illustrating  that  particular  branch 
of  philosophy  or  science,  to  which  the  other  hours  of  the  day  are  devoted. 
Thus,  by  continually  drawing  something  from  the  most  admired  masters  of 
sentiment  and  expression,  the  taste  of  youth  will  be  gradually  formed,  to 
just  Criticism  and  masterly  Composition." 

"  For  this  reason,  Composition,  in  the  Strict  Meaning  of  the  term, 
cannot  be  begun  at  an  earlier  period  than  is  proposed  in  the  plan.  The 
knowledge  of  Mathematics  is  not  more  necessary,  as  an  introduction  to 
natural  philosophy,  than  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  ancient  and 
modern  writers,  especially  the  Critics,  is  to  just  Composition." 

"  Whoever  would  build  must  have  both  the  art  and  and  materials  of 
building;  and  therefore  Composition,  from  one's  own  stock,  is  justly 
placed  after  Criticism,  which  supplies  the  art,  and  not  before  Moral  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  which  enriches  the  Understanding,  and  furnishes  the 
Materials  or  Topics  for  the  Work. ' ' 

"Thus  it  is  hoped  the  student  may  be  led  thro'  a  scale  of  easy 
ascent,  till  finally  render' d  capable  of  Thinking,  Writing  and  Acting  well, 
which  is  the  grand  aim  of  a  liberal  education.  At  the  end  of  every  term, 
there  is  some  time  allowed  for  Recreation,  or  bringing  up  slower  Geniuses. 

' '  Perhaps,  after  all,  some  who  see  this  plan,  may  think  three  years 
too  scanty  a  period  for  its  execution.  We  would  not  be  tenacious  of  our 
opinion;  but,  from  an  attentive  consideration  of  the  business  proposed  for 
each  term,  we  are  inclined  to  think  the  time  will  be  sufficient  for  a  mid- 
dling genius,  with  ordinary  application.  And  where  both  genius  and 
application  are  wanting,  we  conceive  no  time  will  be  found  sufficient. 
Experience,  however,  being  the  best  guide  in  matters  of  this  kind  ;  we 
only  propose  that  a  fair  trial  of  three  years  may  be  made,  before  anything 
farther  is  determined  upon  a  subject  of  such  concern.' ' 

1 '  Such  a  trial  we  think  due  to  the  present  state  of  our  seminar)',  as 
well  as  to  the  public,  and  the  particular  circumstances  of  these  Colonies, 
where  very  few  youth  can  be  detained  for  a  long  period  at  infant  unendowed 
colleges,  where  they  must  wholly  maintain  themselves  at  a  considerable 
expence,  and  where  the  genius  seems  not  only  to  be  sooner  ripe,  but  where 
there  is  also  a  more  immediate  demand,  and  a  more  early  settlement  to  be 
obtained,  in  all  the  ways  of  genteel  employment,  for  Young  Men  of  Parts, 
than  there  is  in  European  Countries." 


524       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

"  N.  B.  The  utmost  care  will  be  taken  for  a  faithful  execution  of 
this  plan  in  all  its  parts.  The  time  for  admitting  Freshmen  in  the  youngest 
philosophy  class  is  May  15,  according  to  the  plan.  But  those  who  neces- 
sarily apply  later  in  the  first  year  will  obtain  Admission,  provided  it 
appear  upon  examination  that  they  are  sufficiently  grounded  in  the  parts 
laid  down  in  the  plan,  previous  to  the  date  of  such  their  admission  ;  which 
parts  may  always  be  known  from  inspection,  together  with  the  proficiency 
made  by  the  class  which  they  are  to  join.  —  The  Sentiments  of  Men  of 
Learning  will  be  thankfully  received  for  perfecting  the  whole ,  and  upon  a 
CANDID  application  to  any  of  the  professors,  they  will  endeavour  to  explain 
and  remove  any  difficiclties  that  may  occur  to  any  persons  concerning  z/." 

So  far  the  Professors  themselves  proceed  in  their  account  of  the 
College-part,  two  years  after  its  first  erection.  I  go  on  to  the  next  branch 
of  this  institution,  which  is  properly  an  English  Academy,  and  consists  of 
two  parts  ;  an  English  and  Writing  School,  and  a  School  for  the  Practical 
branches  of  the  Mathematics.  In  the  Former,  besides  Writing,  the 
children  are  taugh  the  Mother-tongue  Grammatically,  together  with  a  cor- 
rect and  just  pronunciation.  And  for  attaining  this,  a  small  rostrum  or 
oratory  is  erected  in  one  end  of  the  School,  and  the  children  are  frequently 
exercised  in  reading  aloud  from  it,  or  delivering  short  orations  ;  while  the 
Professor  of  English  and  Oratory  stands  by  to  correct  whatever  may  be 
amiss,  either  in  their  Speech  or  Gesture.  This  part  of  the  institution 
is  of  singular  benefit.  It  corrects  unbecoming  bashfulness,  &c.  gives  the 
youth  presence  of  mind,  habituates  them  to  appearing  in  public,  and 
has  been  the  means  of  producing  many  excellent  young  Orators,  that  have 
occasionally  charmed  vast  audiences  and  it  is  hoped  will  soon  become  an 
honour  and  ornament  to  their  country,  in  the  various  stations  to  which 
they  may  be  called .  This  attention  to  public  speaking,  which  is  begun 
here,  is  continued  to  the  end,  and  especially  in  the  philosophy  schools, 
where  the  youth  frequently  deliver  exercises  of  their  own  composition,  at 
commencements,  examinations  and  other  public  occasions. 

The  Last  branch  of  this  institution  consists  of  two  charity  schools  ; 
in  one  of  which  40  Girls  are  taught  Reading  Writing,  and  Sewing,  and 
in  the  other  60  Boys  are  taught  Reading,  Writing  and  Arithmetic. 

This  is  a  very  noble  and  generous  part  of  the  design,  and  the  bene- 
fit done  by  it  to  a  vast  number  of  poor  children,  who  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  education  here  to  fit  them  for  various  sorts  of  business  and 
mechanic  arts,  is  unspeakable.  For  tho'  the  number  of  Boys  was  only 
intended  to  be  60,  yet  it  is  generally  near  80,  and  wou'd  be  much  greater 
if  they  could  be  received. 


Thus,  besides  5  Professors  that  constitute  the  Faculty,  and  have  the 
immediate    inspection    of   the   whole,    6    other    persons    are    continually 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       525 

employed  in  this  institution,  making  1 1  in  all  ;  by  whom  266  students  and 
scholars,  often  more,  are  instructed  ;  and  all  the  branches  of  education 
carried  on  that  are  necessary,  either  for  the  learned  professions,  or  mer- 
chandise or  the  mechanic  arts  and  inferior  callings,  A  seminary,  on  so 
extensive  a  plan,  is  nowhere  else  to  be  found  in  this  new  world,  nor  in 
many  parts  of  the  old ;  and  therefore  a  sketch  of  its  constitution  and  gov- 
ernment, and  those  methods,  by  which  discipline  and  good  order  are  pre- 
served, among  such  a  variety  of  schools,  students  and  scholars,  may  be 
proper  on  this  occasion.  And  here  it  will  be  found  that  its  Government  is 
the  most  rational  and  free  that  can  well  be  imagined,  and  its  Constitiition 
has  many  advantages  peculiar  to  itself. 

The  chief  power  is,  by  Charter,  lodged  in  twenty-four  Trustees,  who 
must  all  be  residents  not  only  within  the  province,  but  within  five  miles  of 
the  city.  All  matters  of  higher  import  are  to  be  decided  by  their  councils 
and  direction  ;  and  all  Laws  are  either  to  be  made  by  them,  or  receive  a 
final  sanction  from  them. 

No  student  can  receive  the  honors  and  ordinary  degrees  of  the 
college,  without  a  previous  examination  in  their  presence,  and  a  Mandate 
under  their  privy-seal  and  the  hands  of  a  majority  of  them.  Nor  can  even 
an  honorary  Degree  be  conferred  without  a  like  Mandate,  under  the  said 
privy-seal  and  the  hands  of  at  least  two-thirds  of  the  whole  body  ;  which 
regulations  must  ever  be  a  means  of  preventing  a  prostitution  of  those 
degrees  and  honors  to  the  Illiterate  and  Undeserving,  which  should  be  the 
reward  of  real  Learning  and  Worth  ;  a  practise  too  much  complained  of 
in  many  other  places. 

In  order  to  do  their  duty  as  trustees  more  effectually,  they  set  apart 
the  second  Tuesday  of  every  month,  for  visiting  and  examining  the  schools, 
conversing  and  advising  with  the  masters,  encouraging  the  students  accord- 
ing to  their  several  degrees  of  merit,  aad  making  such  regulations  as  may 
be  thought  necessary.  All  the  schools,  high  and  low,  have  their  turns  of 
these  visitations  ;  which  are  so  truly  calculated  to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  the 
institution,  and  promote  diligence,  emulation  and  good  behaviour  among 
the  scholars,  that  'tis  hoped  none  who  accept  the  office  of  a  Trustee  will 
ever  be  slack  in  their  attendance,  when  health  and  other  business  will 
permit.  Besides  these  stated  meetings,  their  president*  who  is  chosen 
annually,  has  a  power  of  calling  other  meetings  on  any  particular  occasion. 
The  present  trustees  are  the  following  gentlemen,  viz. 

James  Hamilton,  William  Allen,  John  Inglis,  William  Masters, 
Samuel  J/'  Call,  jun.,  Joseph  Turner,  Benjamin  Frank/in,  Thomas  Leech, 
William  Shippen,  Robert  Strettell,  Philip  Syng,  Phineas  Bond,  Richard 
Peters,  Abraham  Taylor,  Thomas  Bond,  Joshua  Maddox,  William  Plum- 
sted,  Thomas  White,  William  Coleman,  Thomas  Cadivalader,  Alexander 
Stedman,  John  Mifflin,  Benjamin  Chew,  and  Ed-ward  Shippen,  junior. 

*  'I he  present  President  of  Trustees  is  Richard  Peters,  Esq 


526        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Under  these  trustees,  the  principal  masters  are  constituted  into  a 
Faculty,  or  learned  body,  with  all  the  powers  necessary  for  the  ordinary 
government  of  the  schools  and  good  education  of  the  youth.  They  are 
to  meet,  in  Faculty,  at  least  once  in  every  two  weeks,  and  at  such  other 
times  as  the  Provost,  or  senior  member  present,  shall  think  fit  to  call  them, 
or  any  two  members  desire  him  to  do.  At  these  meetings  they  are  to 
enquire  into  the  state  of  the  schools  and  see  that  the  several  plans  of  edu- 
cation be  regularly  carried  on,  and  the  laws  of  the  institution  duly  executed 
and  observed.  They  have  also  power  to  enact  temporary  Rules  and 
Ordinances,  to  be  in  force  as  Laws,  till  the  first  ensuing  meeting  of  the 
trustees;  before  whom  they  are  then  to  be  laid,  in  order  to  be  altered, 
amended  or  confirm' d,  or  left  probationary  for  a  longer  period,  or  wholly 
laid  aside,  as  they  shall  think  fit. 

By  this  method,  all  Laws  either  do  or  may  take  their  rise  from 
masters,  who  being  daily  present  in  the  institution  know  best  what  regula- 
tions and  orders  may  be  wanted.  At  the  same  time,  as  these  regulations 
are  to  receive  their  last  sanction  from  the  Trustees,  who  are  men  of  experi- 
ence, weight  and  probity,  and  have  children  of  their  own  to  educate,  we 
may  be  certain  that  nothing  can  obtain  the  force  of  a  Standing  Law  but 
what  is  found  salutary  and  good  upon  trial.  By  the  present  rules,  the 
faculty  meets  every  Thursday  noon,  and  all  the  schools  are  assembled  in 
order  to  examine  the  weekly  roll,  and  call  delinquents  to  account.  As 
several  youth  are  too  big  for  corporal  punishment,  there  are  small  Fines 
by  the  laws  agreeable  to  the  nature  of  the  offence,  and  the  custom  of  other 
Colleges,  yet  no  one  need  pay  any  such  fine  unless  he  chuses  it,  but  may 
undergo  the  same  punishment  as  if  no  such  fines  had  ever  been  appointed. 
Whatever  money  is  thus  raised  from  the  slothful  and  refractory  in  Fines, 
is  appropriated  in  rewards  to  the  diligent  and  obedient;  so  that  any  youth 
who  has  once  been  a  delinquent  may  have  an  opportunity  of  getting  back, 
^future  care,  what  he  forfeited  "bj  former  neglect. 

These  Rewards  and  Punishments  are  both  administered  in  the  most 
public  manner  ;  and  in  short  the  whole  discipline  is  so  reasonable  and 
just,  that  any  youth  who  might  desire  to  break  thro'  the  rules  of  this 
institution  in  his  younger  years,  can  hardly  be  expected  to  submit  to  the 
rules  of  any  institution  when  grown  up . 

As  to  the  plan  of  education,  it  is  already  laid  down,  and  has  been  the 
fruit  of  much  thought.  Great  care  has  been  taken  to  comprehend  every 
useful  branch  in  it,  without  being  burdensome,  or  launching  into  those 
that  are  unnecessary.  The  greatest  regard  possible  is  also  paid  to  Religion, 
pure  Evangelical  Religion,  untainted  by  the  Dogmas  of  particular  sects  or 
persuasions.  Prayers  and  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  regular  every 
day,  before  the  whole  youth  assembled.  Nor  is  it  any  objection,  but 
rather  an  advantage  particularly  for  the  youth  intended  for  business  and 
public  life,  that  the  building  is  within  the  city.  By  good  rules  and  good 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       527 

example,  the  Morals  of  youth  may  be  as  easily  preserved,  in  a  great  and 
well-policied  city,  as  in  a  small  village,  if  we  can  suppose  any  place  to 
continue  small  where  such  a  seminary  is  once  founded.  When  I  speak 
so,  I  would  be  understood  to  mean,  when  the  youth  all  lodge  in  the  houses 
of  their  parents,  or  in  lodgings  within  the  walls  of  the  college,  which  the 
trustees,  by  their  first  plan  proposed  to  erect,  and  will  do  doubt  accomplish 
whenever  their  funds  will  permit 

In  this  institution,  there  is  a  very  noble  Apparatus  for  experiments 
in  Natural  Philosophy,  done  in  England  by  the  best  hands,  and  brought 
over  from  thence,  in  different  parcels,  at  a  very  great  expence.  There 
is  also,  in  the  experiment  room,  an  Electrical  Apparatus,  the  property  of 
one  of  the  professors,  chiefly  his  own  invention,  and  perhaps  the  com- 
pletest  of  the  kind,  now  in  the  world . 

What  a  blessing  must  such  an  institution  be  to  this  continent  in 
general,  and  how  great  an  honor  to  its  worthy  founders  !  What  advan- 
tages may  not  the  youth  reap  in  it  with  common  industry,  amid  so  many 
opportunities  of  improvement  and  so  many  incitements  to  industry  ; 
where  the  Masters  transact  every  thing  by  joint  advice  ;  where  a  due 
regard  to  religion  is  kept  up  ;  and  the  whole  open  to  the  visitation  and 
frequent  inspection  of  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  rank  and  character  ? 
Who  would  not  chuse  rather  to  see  his  son  in  such  a  seminary,  than  in  any 
obscure  corner,  under  immoral  men,  habitual  Drunkards,  professed 
Gamesters,  concealed  Papists  or  others,  who  never  call  on  the  name  of 
God  in  their  schools  thro'  the  week,  and  on  his  Sabbaths  seldom  enter  his 
holy  sanctuary  !  And  yet,  it  were  to  be  wished,  that  some  such  as  these 
may  not  have  been  but  too  successful  in  deluding  unthinking  parents  to 
commit  an  inestimable  treasure  into  their  hands,  namely  the  education  of 
innocent  children. 

But  to  return,  the  present  professors  and  members  of  faculty  in  the 
institution  of  which  I  am  giving  an  account  are  : — 

REV.  WILLIAM  SMITH,  M.  A.,  PROVOST  of  the  College  and  Academy, 
and  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Natural  Philosophy. 

REV.  FRANCIS  ALISON,  D. D.,  VICE  PROVOST  of  the  College,  Rector 
of  the  Academy,  and  Professor  of  Logic  and  Moral  Philosophy. 

REV.  EBENEZER  KINNERSLEY,  M.  A.,  Professor  of  English  and 
Oratory,  and  Chief  Master  of  the  English  School. 

THEOPHILUS  GREW,  M.  A.,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  Master  of 
the  Mathematical  School . 

JOHN  BEVERIDGE,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Languages,  and  Chief  Master 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  Schools. 

As  to  the  First  of  these  gentlemen,  his  name  has  been  so  often 
mentioned  of  late,  on  many  public  occasions,  that  the  writer  of  this  would 
leave  it  to  cooler  times  to  declare  for  or  against  him.  With  respect  to  his 


528        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

abilities,  the  world  have  specimens  enough  in  their  hands  to  judge  con- 
cerning them. 

The  Second  gentleman  mentioned  above  has  long  been  employed  in 
the  education  of  youth  in  this  province,  and  many  of  those  who  now  make 
a  considerable  figure  in  it  have  been  bred  under  him.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  persons  in  this  country,  who,  foreseeing  the  ignorance  into  which  it 
was  like  to  fall,  set  up  a  regular  school  of  education  in  it ;  and  so  sensible 
were  that  learned  and  respectable  body,  the  University  of  Glasgow,  of  his 
pious  arid  faithful  labors  for  the  propagation  of  useful  knowlege  in  these 
untutored  parts,  that  they  lately  honored  him  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  sent  him  without  any  solicitation  on  his  part,  and  even  without 
his  knowlege. 

As  to  the  Third  of  the  above  gentlemen,  he  is  well  qualified  for  his 
profession  ;  and  has  moreover  great  merit  with  the  learned  world  in  being 
the  chief  inventor  (as  already  mentioned)  of  the  Electrical  apparatus,  as 
well  as  author  of  a  considerable  part  of  those  discoveries  in  Electricity, 
published  by  Mr.  Franklin  to  whom  he  communicated  them.  Indeed 
Mr.  Franklin  himself  mentions  his  name  with  honor,  tho'  he  has  not  been 
careful  enough  to  distinguish  between  their  particular  discoveries.  This, 
perhaps  he  may  have  thought  needless,  as  they  were  known  to  act  in 
concert.  But  tho'  that  circumstance  was  known  here,  it  was  not  so  in  the 
remote  parts  of  the  world  to  which  the  fame  of  these  discoveries  have 
extended. 

The  Fourth  gentleman  in  the  above  list  has  so  long  been  an 
approved  teacher  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in  this  city,  that  I  need 
say  nothing  to  make  him  better  known  than  he  is  already. 

The  last  gentleman,  namely  Mr.  Beveridge,  has  been  already  mentioned 
in  your  magazine  for  June.  By  the  specimens  he  has  given,  he  will  undoubt- 
edly be  acknowledged  one  of  the  ablest  masters  in  the  Latin  tongue,  on  this 
continent  ;  and  it  is  a  singular  happiness  to  the  institution  that  on  the 
vacancy  of  a  professor  of  languages,  the  trustees  were  directed  to  such  an 
excellent  choice,  as  it  must  be  the  certain  means  of  encreasing  the  num- 
ber of  students  from  all  parts,  with  such  as  are  desirous  of  attaining  the 
Latin  tongue  in  its  native  purity  and  beauty. 

Mr.  Beveridge,  in  his  younger  years,  taught  a  grammar  school  in  the 
city  of  Edinburgh,  under  the  particular  patronage  of  the  great  Mr.  Rud- 
diman,  from  whom  he  has  ample  testimonies  of  regard  and  esteem  to 
produce.  While  in  this  station  the  famous  Mr.  Blacklock,  the  blind  Poet, 
was  placed  under  his  care  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  Edinburgh,  who 
discovering  uncommon  marks  of  genius  in  him,  were  desirous,  at  their  own 
expence,  to  give  him  the  advantages  of  an  education  in  the  Latin  Tongue, 
if  by  reason  of  his  blindness  it  could  possibly  be  communicated  to  him. 
This  business  Mr.  Beveridge  soon  accomplished,  and  shewed  very  par- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        529 

ticular  regard  to  Blacklock,  who  in  return    communicated  to  him  all  the 
occasional  rough  sketches  of  his  poetry. 

Among  other  pieces  done  by  Mr.  Blacklock,  while  under  Mr.  Bev- 
eridge  s  care,  his  celebrated  paraphrase  of  Psalm  CIV,  was  one,  which  is 
printed  in  the  Lives  of  the  Poets,  Vol.  IV.,  with  the  following  extraordinary 
character  : 

"This  Psalm  (say  the  authors  of  that  work)  is  one  of  the  sublimest 
"in  the  whole  book  of  Psalms,  and  there  have  been  no  less  than  forty 
"  different  versions  and  paraphrases  of  it  by  poets  of  considerable  emi- 
"  nence,  who  seem  to  have  vied  with  one  another  for  superiority.  But  of 
"all  these,  if  we  may  trust  our  own  judgment,  none  have  succeeded  so 
"happily,  as  Mr.  Blacklock,  a  young  gentleman  now  resident  at  Dumfries 
' '  in  Scotland.  This  paraphrase  is  the  more  extraordinary  as  the  author  of 
"it  has  been  blind  from  his  craddle  &c. — It  carries  in  it  such  elevated 
"strains  of  poetry,  such  picturesque  descriptions,  and  such  a  mellifluent 
"flow  of  numbers,  that  we  are  persuaded  the  reader  cannot  be  displeased 
"at  seeing  it  here,  &c. 

This  performance  Mr.  Blacklock  also  shew'd  to  Mr.  Beveridge  for 
his  judgment,  who  told  him  that  he  admired  it  much,  but  would  be  still 
better  pleased  with  it,  if  it  could  be  made  shorter,  and  brought  nearer  the 
original.  Mr.  Blacklock  replied  that  he  could  not  make  it  shorter,  and 
begged  Mr.  Beveridge  to  try  if  he  could  do  it  The  latter  answered  that 
he  could  not  write  English  verse,  but  he  would  do  a  little  of  it  in  Latin  for 
a  trial.  He  accordingly  set  about  it,  and  was  so  much  inspired  with  the 
subject,  that,  instead  of  a  Part,  he  soon  did  the  Whole,  in  the  compass  of 
about  loo  lines,  which  are  one  half  fewer  than  are  in  Blacklock  s  Para- 
phrase. As  this  of  Mr.  Beveridge' s  has  never  yet  appeared  in  print,  I  am 
persuaded  that  not  only  the  readers  of  your  magazine  who  understand 
Latin,  but  the  learned  world  in  general  will  be  glad  to  see  it.  I  shall 
therefore  subjoin  it,  and  therewith  close  my  account  of  this  useful  institu- 
tion, as  well  as  of  the  Professors  and  Masters  in  it  ;  only  adding  that  what 
is  here  done  is  from  authentic  Materials,  and  without  the  privity  and 
advice  of  them  or  any  other  persons  whatsoever. 

POETICAL. 


53O        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 
APPENDIX  F 


LIST  OF 
SCHOLARS  ENTERED 

AT   THE 

ACADEMY  AND  COLLEGE 
UP  TO  AND  INCLUDING  THE  YEAR 

1769 


TAKEN  FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TWO 
COLLEGE  TUITION  BOOKS 


Note.   The  names  with  asterisk  are  also  found  in  the  Biographical  Catalogue  of\ 
the   Matriculates  of  the  College,  published  in  1894. 


Entered  By  Whom  Year, 

Abercrombie,     James* Alexr  Stedman 1766 

Ache,  John  Lewis William  Smith 1754 

Adye,  Ralph Lieu  :  Adye 1768 

Alexander,  Adam James  Alexander 1762 

Alexander* per  se      1762 

James James  Alexander 1752 

Robert William    M'llvaine 1752 

William Alexander  Alexander J759 

Alison,  Benjamin* Dr.  Francis  Alison 1754 

Benjamin     Ashley    .    .    .  Do  J759 

Blaney Robert    Alison 1768 

Francis  * Dr.    Francis  Alison 1758 

Patrick* per  se J759 

Robert* Robert  Alison 1768 

Allaire,  Peter Alexander  Allaire 1752 

Alice,  Jonathan Abraham  Alice 1752 

Allen,  Andrew* William  Allen,  Esq 1751 

Charles .    .  Richard   Peters,     Esq 1755 

James William  Allen,  Esq 1751 

John* Do  1751 

William Do  •  .    .    ;  1759 

Ambler,  Jaqueline* Do 1758 

Amory,  John Capt  John  Mease 1760 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        531 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Anderson,  James Robert  Anderson 1752 

James* Samuel  Anderson 1762 

James  Monatt  .    .    .    .  Dr    Kearsley,   jun'r 1766 

Andrews,  John* per  se 1763 

Robert* per  se 1764 

Anna,  John  William Mrs  Lindsay      1758 

Annas,  John Robert  Lindsay 1752 

Apowen,  John Capt.  Apowen 1760 

Samuel Do  1760 

Armitage,  Nathaniel      Francis  Alison ...   1756 

Armor,  Samuel* Robert  Alison 1769 

Armstrong,  Edward*      per  se      1760 

James       John  Armstrong 1756 

Arnold,  Henry*      Samuel  Caldwell 1766 

Arrel,  David Richard  Arrel 1761 

Peter     . Do  1752 

Ash,  Oliver      Charles  Batho 1762 

Rowland Do  1762 

Ashfield,  Redford Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq 1763 

Aspden,  Matthias Matthias  Aspden 1762 

Assheton,  Ralph Susanna  Assheton 1751 

William William  Assheton 1767 

Austin,  Isaac Samuel  Austin 1762 

William Do  1762 

Ayers,  Willliam 1752 

Badger,  Edward George  Sharswood 1754 

Bagnall,  Robert      Benjamin  Bagnall 1752 

Baker,  Benjamin perse 1766 

Ignatius Do        1765 

John William  Baker 1752 

Baily,  John John  Bailey 1761 

Bankson,  Andrew Andrew  Bankson 1759 

Jacob* Do  1764 

Barbaric,  Andrew John  Barbaric 1766 

John Do  1766 

Barclay,  Robert      .  ....  Alexander  Barclay 1758 

Bard,  John per  se      1758 

John Peter  Bard      1760 

Peter Do  1761 

Samuel       Do  1751 

Barnhill,  Daniel John  Barnhill 4   .    .   .  1768 

John Do  . 1769 


532        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Barret,  John*      John  Wilcocks 1769 

Bartholomew,  Benjamin    ....  Thomas  Bartholomew 1765 

Stephen      ....  Do  1755 

Bartram,  William John  Bartram 1752 

Batho,  John Charles  Batho 1758 

Baxter,  Joseph Enoch  Story 1765 

Bayard,  James  Assheton   ....  Joseph  Richardson 1753 

John  Baginham    ....  Do  1753 

John  Richardson      .    .    .  Do  J753 

Bayley,  John John  Bayley 1766 

Baynton,  Benjamin*  x John  Baynton 1753 

John Do  1764 

Peter Do  1764 

Bedford,  Gunning  * William  Bedford 1752 

Beere,  James Jonathan  Beer      1767 

Belgrave,  William Nicholas  Moll 1761 

Bell,  Andrew Stephen  Carmich 17S7 

Andrew John  Bell 1765 

Hamilton* Dr  Francis  Alison 1767 

Patterson*      Do  1769 

Thomas      James  Bell 1761 

William       Dr  Francis  Alison     ...    .    .    .    .  1767 

Benbridge,  Absalom Edmund  Benbridge J756 

Henry Thomas  Gordon 1751 

Benezet,  Anthony Daniel  Benezet      1760 

John Do  1755 

Samuel James  Benezet 1760 

Stephen    ...••..  Do  1761 

Bensel,  Charles Dr  Bensel 1768 

Bevan,  Davis Awbrey  Bevan 1761 

Biddle,  Edward William  Biddle 1751 

Nicholas Mary  Biddle 1761 

Thomas      Do  1761 

William* 1769 

Bingham  James      William  Bingham      1756 

John Do  1756 

William* Do  1758 

Bird,  Edward       Joseph  Shippen,  Esq 1763 

Marcus Dr  James  Dove 1753 


*To  1756,  and  a  Benjamin  enters  1764  and  continues  to  '69  as  do  the  follow- 
ing two. 

2To  1756,  and  a  Gunning  enters  1766  and  continues  to  '68. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       533 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Bird,  William* John  Patton 1769 

Bishop,  Edward 1763 

Blackburn,  Thomas Capt  James  Child 1760 

Blackwell,  James  (Evant)      .    .    .  John  Wilcocks 1765 

Thomas* Do  1769 

Blair,  John      Capt  William  Blair 1752 

Bleakly,  John* John  Bleakly 1768 

Bond,  John Dr  Thomas  Bond 1752 

Phineas*      Dr  Phineas  Bond 1756 

Richard Dr  Thomas  Bond 1758 

Robert      Do  1765 

Thomas*      Do  1751 

Thomas Dr  Phineas  Bond 1752 

Bonner,  Andrew John  Stillwagon 1754 

Borden,  Joseph Joseph  Borden 1766 

Boude,  Joseph Thomas  Boude 1751 

Boudinot,  Elias Elias  Boudinot 1751 

John Do  1751 

Boyd,  Samuel* per  se 1 765 

Bradford,  Thomas William  Bradford 1751 

William      Cornelius  Bradford 1762 

William William  Bradford      ...    •    •    .    .  1762 

Braithwaite,  Thomas      per  se      1768 

Bridges,  Culpepper Cornelia  Bridges 1755 

Robert Do  1751 

Bright,  James Philip  Syng 1752 

Brisbane,  William Capt  James  Young 1767 

Broakhead,  Daniel Nicholas  Scull 1753 

Brooks,  Ebenezer* Capt  John  Mease      1762 

Brown,  Samuel Redmond  Conyngham 1758 

Bruin,  Peter* William  Gallagher 1769 

Buchanan,  William Thomas  White,  Esq 1 760 

Buckley,  Joseph  Dorsey    ....  Archibald  Hilhouse 1755 

Budden,  James Capt  Richard  Budden 1751 

Burnholt,    John 1763 

Burroughs,  Arthur Capt  Arthur   Burroughs 1751 

John Do  1751 

Byles,  Thomas  [Biles?] Thomas  Byles 1760 

Byrn,  Henry Jonathan  Beere 1768 

John Do 1766 

By  water,   William William  By  water 1761 

Cadogan,  Thomas Thomas  Willing,  Esq 1 763 


534        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  fly  Whom  Year. 

Cadwalader,  John* Dr  Thomas  Cadwalader    ...  1751 

Lambert* Do  1751 

Caldwell,  John Dr  Alison 1769 

Campbell,  James Anthony  Stocker 1/57 

John Mrs  Campbell 1767 

Peter Dr  Farmer 1763 

Cannon,  James* per  se 1767 

Carlisle,  Langton Robert  Raulinton 1751 

Carmick,  Peter Stephen  Carmick .    .  1767 

Carpenter,  Miles  Harding 1752 

Carson,  John* William  Carson 1765 

John William  Pyewell 1765 

William Do  1765 

Cartland,   Nathaniel 1753 

Caryll,  John Reese  Meredith 1751 

Chadd,  Henry 1751 

Champe,  John Amos  Strettell 1755 

William Do  1755 

Chapman,  Nathaniel* Reese  Meredith 1752 

Charleton,  Thomas Thomas  Charleton 1757 

Cheeseman,  Edmund Samuel  Cheeseman 1762 

Chew,  Benjamin* Benjamin  Chew  Esq 1765 

John* Dr  Thomas  Bond 1751 

Philemon  Lloyd Dr  Adam  Thomson 1751 

Samuel Dr  Thomas  Bond 1751 

Child,  James Capt  James  Childs 1761 

John Do  1751 

Perry  Frazer Do  1754 

William Do  I7S9 

Clampffer,  Adam William  Clampffer 1761 

Clarkson,    Gerardus Rev  Gilbert  Tennant 1751 

Thomas Matthew  Clarkson 1766 

Claypoole,  Abraham  [George]  .    .  James  Claypoole 1766 

David Do  1766 

Clayton,  Joshua* James  Murray 1757 

Clemm,  John Mrs  Elizabeth  Clemm 1761 

William Do  1761 

Clifton,  William John  Clifton 1751 

Clymer,  Daniel Capt  Daniel  Roberdeau 1755 

Coatain,  William Capt  Thos  Coatain 1752 

Coates,  John John  Coates 1760 

John WTilliam  Plumsted 1760 

Lindsay* John  Coates 1751 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        535 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Coates,   Septimus John  Coates 1764 

William Do  1751 

Collins,  William Capt  John  Willcocks 1757 

Condey,  William Benjamin  Condey 1 767 

Conyngham,   Alexander    ....  Redmond  Conyngham 1760 

David  Hayfield  .    .  Do  1757 

Robert      Do  1760 

Conyers,  Joseph      Alexander  Magee !756 

Cooke,  John*      Richard  Smith 1757 

Stephen Nathan  Cooke 1761 

William      perse      1755 

Coombe,  Thomas* Thomas  Coombe  . 1754 

Cooper,  Henry Alexander  Wilcocks 1764 

Corbit,  Francis Michael  Batho 1761 

Michael Do  1761 

Correy,  John John  Correy 1768 

Robert Do  1762 

Samuel Do  i?57 

William William  Correy 1761 

Cottenham,  George Mr  Cottenham  of  Trenton  ....  1766 

Coutanche,  Benjamin     •  .     .    .    .  Anthony  Stocker 1757 

Coutts,  James      Theophilus  Grew 1756 

Coxe,  Daniel William  Coxe 1752 

Isaac     [Cox?] Thomas  Clifford 1761 

John*      Do  1760 

John William  Coxe 1 760 

Tench Do  1761 

William* Do  1769 

William  Elden       Robert  Stevenson      1765 

Craig,  James James  Craig 1760 

John      Do  1761 

Joseph       William  Craig 1761 

William James  Craig 1764 

Crook,  Charles*      Dr  Smith 1769 

Crooke,  William* Capt  John  Wilcocks 1757 

Cruger,  John  Harris Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq 1753 

Cruikshank,  James Mrs  Sayres 1752 

Cummings,  John William  Craig 1767 

Currie,  James      Rev  Mr  William  Currie 1757 

Cuthbert,  Thomas Thomas  Cuthbert      1757 

Darland,  John Dr  Lloyd  Zachary 1752 

Darvil,  William      Evan  Morgan 1755 


536       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Davenport,  Franklin Josiah  Davenport      1763 

David,  Ebenezer Enoch  David 1765 

Davidson,  Robert* 17&9 

Davis,  Benjamin Benjamin  Davis 1765 

George Mrs  Plumsted 1754 

John* Joseph  Davis 1754 

Robert William  Davis 1762 

William Mrs  Plumsted 1754 

Deering,  John Richard  Swan 1757 

Richard  [?] 1756 

DeHaven,  Hugh Peter  DeHaven      1763 

DeLancey,  John* per  se      1760 

Peter* Do       1760 

Denny,  Henry Isaac  Cox 1767 

De  Normandie,  Andrew    ....  Peter  Bard      1756 

James Anthony  De  Normandie 1761 

Desvories,  James Capt  James  Ross 1768 

Dewees,  Farmer William  Dewees 1751 

Dexter,  Henry* Eleanora  Dexter 1754 

James Do  1752 

Dickinson,  Philemon* John  Dickinson 1751 

Diemer,  John Dr  John  Diemer 1754 

Dillon,  Hugh      perse      1758 

Doe,  Archibald 1758 

D'Olici,  Richard perse      1764 

Donaldson,  Hugh Hugh  Donaldson 1762 

John Do  1760 

Joseph Do  1761 

Dorsey,  Basil* Col  Thomas  White 1751 

Henry Do  1752 

John  Hammond  ....  Samson  Levi      1767 

Joseph  Buckley    ....  Archibald  Hilhouse 1756 

Dougal,  Samuel* per  se      .    .    •    •   • 1768 

Dougan,  Robert      Capt  John  Wilcocks 17S7 

Douglas,   Richard Jacob  Morgan 1766 

Dow,  Alexander Dr  M'Lean 1761 

Dowers,  John       Capt  Edward  Dowers 1751 

Doyle,  Thomas Theophilus  Grew 1751 

DuBois,  Walter* James  James      1760 

Duche,  Jacob* Jacob  Duche      1751 

William      Anthony  Duche 1761 

Duffield,  Benjamin* William  Duffield 1759 

Dunbavin,  Charles John  Wilcocks 1751 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       537 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Dunbavin,  John John  Wilcocks 1751 

Thomas Do  1753 

Duncan,  Matthew* Isaac  Duncan 1765 

Richard John  Malcolm 1757 

William    ...     ....  Isaac  Duncan 1765 

Dungan,  Thomas* per  se 1 762 

Dunscombe,  Thomas Redmond  Conyngham      1757 

Dupuy,  John Mr  Dupuy 1759 

Duval,  William per  se      1766 

Eastburn,  Thomas      Robert  Eastburn 1752 

Easton,  Jonathan* perse •  1765 

Edgar,  Charles Charles  Edgar 1752 

Edmiston,  William* Samuel  Edmiston 1752 

Edwards,  Enoch Alexander  Edwards 1768 

John Ann  Williams 1751 

John Capt.  Coney  Edwards 1752 

William Do  1752 

Ege,  George MrStiegel 1766 

Egger,  Thomas DrTombe 1763 

Ehrenzeller,  Jacob      Jacob  Ehrenzeller      1762 

Elliot,  George Ezekiel  Shepherd      1761 

Elligood,  Jacob Dr  Sam' 1  Preston  Moore      ....  1754 

Elmer,  Jonathan per  se      1766 

Elves,  Henry       Capt  Henry  Elves 1754 

Emlen,  George George  Emlen 1756 

Engle,  Charles Jacob  Hall 1767 

Erwin,  James      John  Erwin 1752 

Evans,  Joel* Jonathan  Evans 1752 

John per  se      '. 1768 

Nathaniel* Edward  Evans 1751 

Eve,  Oswald Oswald  Eve 1764 

Ewing,  James Dr  James  Dove     1753 

Faesch,  John  Rhodolph    ....  Rev  Mr   Handchurch 1756 

Fairley,  George Jonathan   Beer 1767 

Henry Do          1767 

Farley,  George Samuel  Leacock 1766 

Henry Matthias  Sculp 1764 

Farmer,  James 1751 

William Dr  Richard  Farmer  .....     .    .  1751 

Faulkner,  William Nestor  Faulkner 1757 

Faultner,  Ephraim Joseph  Faultner 1752 


538        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Ferguson,  James* William  West 1769 

Fisher,  Joseph Samuel  Fisher 1761 

Fitzhugh,  William Amos  Strettell 1755 

Fitzpatrick,  John Mrs  Graham 1761 

Flag,  Henry  Collins Ebenezer  Kinnersley *754 

Fleming,  William* perse !759 

Flower,  Samuel Capt.  Samuel  Flower 1760 

Flowers,  Benjamin  , Benjamin  Flowers  . 1761 

Follow,  James Elizabeth  Follow 1760 

Francis,  John* Tench  Francis 1769 

Philip    .    , Do  1756 

Turbot Do  1751 

Franks,  David John  Franks 1760 

Moses David  Franks 1761 

Fraser,  George  . Peter  Salmon 1752 

Fullerton,  Alexander John  Fullerton  ... 1756 

John Do  1756 

Gale,  Christopher Mrs  Hallo  well 1760 

Galloway,  Benjamin Benjamin  Chew  Esq 1761 

Gardiner,  Theophilus  ....  Theophilus  Gardner 1764 

Gardner,  Richard per  s  =  17$6 

George,  Josuah Dr  James  Dove 1752 

Sidney* Mr  Davidson  17&9 

Gibbes,  William Rebecca  Gibbes 1754 

Gibbon,  Francis Grant  Gibbon X759 

Gilbert,  John  Thomas  Gilbert 1765 

Giles,  James  .  .  ....  Capt  John  Giles 1 760 

Glen,  John  Alexander  Lunan 1757 

Goldfrap,  James *.  Francis  Wade 1767 

Goldsborough,  Charles*  ....  John  Dickinson,  Esq 1757 

Robert*  ....  Tench  Francis 1757 

Gordon,  Henry Captn  Henry  Gordon 17^9 

James Thomas  Gordon .    .  1756 

Peter Capt  Henry  Gordon 1766 

Gorrel,  James  Dr  James  Dove 1752 

Good,  George Willm  Plumsted 1753 

Gostelowe,  George  Jonathan  Gostelowe 1757 

Jonathan George  Gostelowe 1755 

Graham,  Joseph Israel  Pemberton,  jr 1753 

Robert  John  Inglis 1767 

Grantham,  Isaac per  se 1762 

Graves,  Richard Mrs  Gibbs  •.  1752 

Gravill,  Samuel Samuel  Stil man  1761 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        539 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Gray,  Joseph  . George  Gray 1752 

Graydon,  Alexander Joseph  Marks 1760 

Andrew* Mrs  Graydon 1768 

Green,  John    .    .     •    • Elizabeth  Green 1752 

Joseph Dr  Peter  Sonsimon 1757 

Rodolphus      Capt  John  Murray 1754 

Greenway,  William*      Robert  Greenway 175* 

Grew  Theophilus* Theophilus  Grew  . 1751 

Griffin,  Thomas Capt  Rankin  .    .   '.     .    .     .    .  1753 

Grime,  Mark* John  Bell 1756 

Groath,  John Henry  Groath 1760 

Grove,  John Jane  Grove 1761 

Hall,  Aquila*      William  White      1768 

David David  Hall 1762 

Jacob* Jacob  Hall,  Esq 1761 

John* Thomas  White 1752 

Thomas* Mr  John  Hall 1761 

William David  Hall 17S9 

Hallwood,  John* John  Wilcocks 1768 

Hamilton,  Andrew Mary  Hamilton 1751 

Charles      Rev' d  John  Hamilton 1768 

Hans* per  se      1764 

John John  Beveridge 1761 

William* Mary  Hamilton 1751 

Handshew,  Henry      Mrs  Handshew 1765 

Hanson,  Alexander Reese  Meredith 1761 

Samuel* per  se      1769 

Harding,  Samuel*       James  Harding      1769 

Harker,   Ahimaaz per  se 1764 

Harleston,  John      Will™  West 1769 

Harper,  John John  Harper      1764 

Joseph Do  1765 

Harris  Charles* Francis  Harris 1769 

Oswald  Peel* Do  1769 

Robert 1751 

Harrison,   Benjamin Amos  Strettell 1755 

Eastwick Enoch  David 1761 

Henry Henry  Harrison !759 

Joseph* Do  1761 

Matthias*       Mrs  Harrison 1766 

Hastings,   Samuel Samuel  Hastings 1751 

Hathorn,  Daniel Daniel  Hathorn 1762 


540        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Haughn,  William Jacob  Winey 1760 

Hazard,  Ebenezer Samuel  Hazard 1751 

Samuel Do  1751 

Hazleton,  William      Capt  Hazleton 1757 

Heaselton,  William Bartholomew  Penrose 1752 

Heath,  James Dr  Adam  Thomson 1751 

Henry,  George* William  Henry 1757 

John Mr  Jones 1755 

Hicks,   Augustine Augustine  Hicks 1751 

Charles Edward  Hicks 1751 

Joseph Augustine  Hicks 1751 

Hill,  Benjamin Nicholas  Moll 1761 

John John  Hill 1762 

Whitmel*      Samuel  Orme 1757 

Hillegas,  Michael Samuel  Hillegas 1765 

Samuel Michael  Hillegas 1762 

Hindman,  William* Mr  Alison      17S9 

Hinshelwood,    Thomas Robert  Hinshelwood    ....    •  .   .  1765 

Hockley,  William Richard  Hockley 1755 

Hodge,  Hugh Hugh  Hodge 1762 

Hogland,  Benjamin Derich  Hogland 1757 

Hollingshead,  Thomas 1766 

William* William  Hollingshead 1765 

Holwood,  John John  Wilcocks 1762 

Hood,  Thomas John  Hood 1761 

Hook,  Christian Andrew  Hook 1765 

Hooper,  James* Dr  Peter  Sonsman 1758 

Robert Do  1757 

Hoops,  David Adam  Hoops 1761 

Robert Do          1758 

Hooton,  Thomas Thomas^Hooton 1752 

Hopkinson,  Francis* Thomas  Hopkinson,  Esq     .    .     .    .  1751 

Thomas* Mary  Hopkinson 1756 

Hopper,  William* !759 

House,  George Capt  Samuel  House 1764 

Samuel Mrs  House 1767 

Houston,  Alexander Alexander  Houston  ...     .    ,    .    .  1767 

Thomas George  Houston 1761 

Howell,  Richard Letitia  Howell 1751 

Samuel Samuel  Howell 1762 

Huddell,  William Joseph  Huddell 1760 

Hughes,  Hugh* John  Hughes 1751 

Samuel Thomas  Riche" 1753 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       541 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Hulings,  Jonathan Michael  Hulings 1751 

Humphreys,  Assheton James  Humphreys 17S9 

James* Do  1759 

Hunt,   Isaac* Thomas  Gilbert 1757 

John  , Charles  Williams 1757 

Richard Glover  Hunt 1767 

Hunter,  Samuel Capt  John  Murray 1758 

William Benjamin  Franklin 1764 

Huston,  Alexander Alexander  Huston 1768 

George John  Inglis 1755 

James* James  Huston 1756 

John* perse 1759 

Thomas, George  Huston 1760 

Hutchins,  Joseph* John  Howard 17S9 

Hutchinson,  Richard  .    .    .   •     .  .  Redmond  Conyngham J758 

Hyde,  William Joseph  Marriott 1762 

Hyrne,  William* William  West    .  1769 

Ibyson,  William Capt  James  Coultas 1751 

Imlay,  William 1759 

Ingham,  John Jonathan  Ingham *753 

Inglis,  George John  Inglis 1757 

John Do        1751 

Samuel Do  1752 

Irish,  Nathaniel William  Allen,  Esq 1751 

Jackman,  Nathaniel Samuel  Osborne 1759 

Philip Do  1759 

Jackson,  John  M Charles  Thomson 1769 

Matthew Matthew  Jackson 1757 

Jacobi,  Charles Matthew  Usher 1752 

Jekyll,  John Margaret  Jekill 1751 

Jenkins,  Joseph Charles  Jenkins 17  5  2 

William Do  1752 

Jennings,   Henry per  se 1762 

Michael John  Jennings 1762 

Jepson,  John Anthony  Stocker *755 

Jervis,  John John  Jervis 1752 

Johns,  Richard John  Chew 1762 

Johnson,  Alexander John  Clifton 1751 

Francis Randle  Mitchell 1765 

Heathcote John  Johnson 1757 

John Do  .1756 


542        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Johnson,   John William  Smith *756 

John perse 1758 

Robert John  Johnson 1761 

Johnston,  Archibald* William  West '  .     ...   1769 

Charles Capt  Jarvis  Johnston 1769 

Robert Do  1767 

Robert* Mrs  Barclay 1767 

Jones,  George Mr  Wilcocks 1768 

Joseph Thomas  Clifford 1761 

Latimer Thomas  Willing 1757 

Philip Do  1757 

Robert Isaac  Jones 1752 

Robert  Strettell* Do  1756 

Samuel* per  se 1761 

Josiah,  James Emanuel  Josiah 1760 

Robert Do  1760 

Judah,  David Abraham  Judah 1760 

Judkins,  Stephen Townsend  White 1762 

Kearney,  Francis Philip  Kearney 1766 

James Do  1766 

Michael Do  1766 

Ravand Dr  Peter  Sonsman 1754 

Keen,  Reynold Peter  Keen 1751 

Keene,  Samuel*     •    • Dr  James  Dove J753 

Keimar,  Thomas Dr  Morgan 1766 

Kellen,  James George  Lee 1761 

Kelly,  Erasmus* per  se      1767 

Kemble,  Peter Robert  Tuite 1751 

Stephen Do          1751 

Kendall,  Joseph      Benjamin  Kendall 1764 

William William  Allen,  Esq 1753 

Keppele,  Henry Henry  Keppele 1756 

John      Do  .,   .    .    .  1766 

King,  Edward James  Filler 1759 

John* per  se      1765 

Thomas Joseph  King *753 

William Capt.  Alison 1768 

Kinnersley,  William* Ebenezer  Kinnersley 1751 

Kinsey,  Charles Mrs  Pritchard 1752 

Kirk,  John Samuel  Kirk 1751 

Knight,  Charles John  Knight 1752 

John Elizabeth  Knight 1761 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        543 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Knowles,  Edward  Godfrey    .    .    .  Matthias  Leamy 1766 

Knox,  John Nestor  Falkner      1756 

Kolloch,   Philip Joseph  Swift .   .  1760 

Kuhn,  Adam 1751 

Daniel       Simon  A.  Kuhn 1766 

Peter Dr  Adam  Kuhn 1768 

Kuhl,  Benjamin Marcus  Kuhl 1751 

Lacavalerie,  John Capt  Burrows 1768 

Lang,  James* per  1761 

Langdale,  Joshua Philip  Syng 1752 

Langley,  Thomas Dr  McLean 1760 

Lardner,  James* Lynford  Lardner,  Esq 1769 

John Do  1760 

William* Do  ......  1769 

Latimer,  Henry* Mr  Davidson 1768 

Lawrence,  Elisha per  se      1762 

John Thomas  Lawrence 1762 

Staats Do  1767 

Thomas* Do  1751 

Lawson,  Alexander* Thomas  White J753 

Henry Thomas  Gilbert 1757 

Lea,  George Dr  Adam  Thomson 1751 

Joseph Elias  Boudinot      1751 

Learning,  Jonathan per  se 1757 

Person Aaron  Learning 1767 

Thomas Ebenezer  Kinnersley 1764 

Leamy,  John Matthias  Leamy 1753 

Lee,  Richard* Thomas  Willing,  Esq 1763 

Leech,  Benjamin Mary  Leech 1751 

Jacob Elinor  Leech 1751 

Thomas Thomas  Leech -1756 

Walter  Moor Mr  Clayton 1767 

LeGay,  Benjamin Mary  Wey man 1759 

Legee,  Jacob Mrs  Legee i?52 

Leonard,  Robert  Morris     ....  Rev' d  Mr  Peters 1766 

Levers,  Robert* Robert  Levers,  Esq 1769 

William* Do  '.    .  1767 

Levi,  Moses  [Levy?]      Sampson  Levi 1764 

Nathan Benjamin  Levi 1768 

Lewis,  Francis Capt  Badger 1759 

John Dr  Stewart 1761 

Samuel  Do  1761 


544       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Lindsey,  William John  Wilcocks 1751 

Lisle,  Joseph* John  Lisle  1767 

Little,  Archibald* Andrew  Little 1768 

Livingston,  Philip Alexander  Lunen 1755 

Lloyd,  Edward Dr  Smith 1761 

Loockerman,  Vincent Rev  Ebenezer  Kinnersley  ...  .1761 

Lowes,  Henry Richard  Peters,  Esq  1755 

Loxly,  Abraham Benjamin  Loxly 1761 

Benjamin Do  1761 

Lownds,  Francis Thomas  Willing 1760 

Luff,  Nathaniel Doct  Sonman 1768 

Luke,  John  John  Smith  .  .  • 1754 

Lukens,  James John  Lukens  1761 

Lyon,  Charles Capt  Charles  Lyon 1761 

Samuel Do  1766 

M  Afee,  William William  Moore      1769 

M'Call,  George Samuel  M' Call,  jr 1757 

John      Do  1751 

John  Searle* Do  1754 

M'Casland,  Alexander per  se      1765 

M'Clane,  Archibald per  se      1767 

McClean,   John* Robert  Porter 1 769 

McClure,  William ...   1752 

McCubbin,  Nicholas Nicholas  McCubbin 1765 

McCubbins,  William Nathaniel  Chapman 1756 

McDonald,  Theodosius     ....  Amos  Strettell 1755 

McDowell,  John* Alexander  McDowell *755 

John John  Montgomery 1769 

McEvers,  Charles William  Vanderspiegle 1751 

McGee,  Alexander      William  Edgell      1751 

McGraw,  Perkins William  Smith 1757 

McHenry,  Matthew* per  se 1757 

Mcllvaine,  Joseph William  Mcllvaine 1756 

William Do  1756 

Mclntire,   John Michael  Mclntire      1762 

Michael Do  1762 

McKenzie,  William Capt  Morrell 1766 

McMichael,  John John  McMichael 1756 

McMurtrie,  William David  McMurtrie 1765 

McNaire,  John Andrew  McNaire 1760 

McPherson,  John Capt  John  McPherson      1757 

William Do  1761 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       545 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Mackrel,  Thomas Richard  Peters,  Esq 1751 

Maffitt,  John per  se 1768 

Magee,  Alexander      Dr  James  Dove 1752 

Magra,    Edmond Theophilus  Greer 1752 

Perkins William  Plumsted 1760 

Malcolm,    Henry John  Malcolm 1765 

William Do  1765 

Martin,  Josiah William  Allen,  Esq 1753 

Samuel Do  1753 

William* Do  1753 

Manning,  Charles Jonathan  Beve 1767 

Manny,  James Francis  Many 175' 

Marshal,  Richard Mr  Franks *753 

Martindale,  John Thomas  Austin 1757 

Mason,  Abram Abram  Mason 1766 

Masters,  William* William  Masters 1751 

Mather,  Joseph  [Mathers?]    .  .    .  John  Mather      1751 

Maurichean,  Abraham       ....  per  se _..-....  1761 

Mawby,  John Capt  Mawby 1768 

Mayburry,  Thomas Capt          Jolly J753 

Melchor,  Adam Leonard  Melchor 1762 

Isaac Do  1760 

Merchant,  Henry*  [Marchant  ?]   .  Ebenezer   Kinnersly J753 

Merrifield,  William Atwood  Shute,  Esq 1756 

Mifflin,  George John  Mifflin 1757 

John* Mrs  Mifflin 1765 

Jonathan Samuel  Mifflin 1762 

Thomas* John  Mifflin 1751 

Miller,  Alexander Peter  Miller 1765 

Benjamin Do          1766 

Miln,  John Thomas  Austin      !759 

Mitchell,  John Andrew  Caldwell 1764 

William Mrs  Jean  Mitchell 1758 

William Thomas  Mitchell 1761 

Moland,  John     .    .   • John  Moland,  Esq 1751 

Joseph       Capt  Hay 1767 

Robert      John  Moland,  Esq 1751 

Thomas Do  1751 

Montgomery,  Hugh* Dr  Alison 1769 

John per  se      1764 

Montgomery,  Robert      James  Mackey 1756 

William*     ....  perse      1756 

Montour,  John Richard  Peters,  Esq 1756 


546        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered                                           By  Whom  Year. 

Moore,  Blany  Harper Dr  Smith 1 766 

Francis Redmond  Conyngham 1754 

James  Wemyss*    ....  Coll.  Wm  Moore 17$6 

John  Harper Dr  Smith 1766 

Robert* William  Moore      1769 

Thomas  Lloyd Do               1766 

William  Sturge Dr  Smith 1 766 

Morgan,  Benjamin Morris  Morgan 1751 

George Do             1751 

James Samuel  Morgan 1766 

James  Gerrard     ....  Townsend  White 1764 

John* Samuel  Morgan 1760 

Thomas Townsend  White 1764 

Morrel,  John Mr  David  Franks      .    .     ...     .    .  1766 

Peter      Do                  1766 

Morris,  Anthony Samuel  Morris 1752 

Benjamin Do             1766 

Cadwalader*     .....             Do             1751 

George  Anthony    ....  Joseph  Morris 1755 

Governeur Thomas  Lawrence 1761 

Isaac 1751 

Israel      William  Morris      17S3 

John* Samuel  Morris 1751 

Samuel Do           1754 

Thomas      Robert;  Morris 1761 

Thomas      Samuel  Morris  .    .    .   • 1764 

Mowbray,  John Capt  John  Mowbray 1767 

Muhlenberg,  Peter* Rev'd  Henry  Muhlenberg    ...     .1761 

Murgatroyd,  John Dr  Salmon      1755 

Thomas Do           1755 

Murray,  James*      Dr  Murray 1756 

Lindley Mrs  Durborow 1756 

Keilson,  John* Francis  Alison 1754 

Nicholas,  Samuel Atwood  Shute 1752 

Nicholson,  Benjamin Alexander  Lunan 1761 

Edward Do  1759 

Robert      Robert  Nicholson      1761 

William Laetitia  Howell 1752 

North,  George*  [Noarth  ?]    .    .    .  Capt  George  North 1 760 

Nuttle,  Samuel Capt  Samuel  Nuttle 1761 

Obryan,  Cornelius John  Clifton 1751 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        547 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Obryan,  Talbot John  Clifton 1751 

William Do  1751 

O1  Parrel,  John* Patrick  O'Farrell 1769 

Ogden,  Abraham* Richard  Peters,  Esq 1757 

Samuel Do  17S9 

Ogle,  Benjamin Mr  Bard 1757 

George William  Ball      1756 

O'Kyll,  John  [O1  Kill?] George  O'Kyll 1752 

Oliver,  James      perse 1761 

Ord,  John John  Ord 1753 

Osborne,  Charles Charles  Osborne 1756 

George Mr  Renaudet 1 762 

John John  Wilcocks 1765 

Matthew      George  Lucas  Osborne 1751 

Robert Do  1751 

Paca,  Aquila Thomas  White 1752 

William* Do  1752 

Parke,  John* Mr  Davidson 1769 

Parker,  Samuel Benj  Franklin,  Esq 1752 

Paschall,  Stephen Stephen  Paschall 1761 

Patterson,  John* perse 1763 

Paxton,  James Charles  Coxe      1759 

William* Do  1757 

Pearson,  James 1751 

Pelgrave,  Ezekiel Capt  Enoch  Hobart 1752 

Pennock,  William Joseph  Yeates 1762 

Penrose,  Isaac Mary  Penrose 1760 

James Thomas  Penrose 1751 

Jonathan  . James  Penrose 1 762 

Joseph      Bartholomew  Penrose 1752 

Samuel Thomas  '756 

Peters,  Richard* William  Peters,  Esq 1751 

Thomas Do  1763 

William Do  1751 

Phillips,  John Capt  John  Phillips 1751 

Thomas Do  1752 

Philpot,  John Dr  Thomas  Bond      ...    .   •    .    .  1762 

Phcenix,  Alexander Capt  James  Child 1762 

Physick,  Henry  White*     ....  Edward  Physick 1766 

Pierce,  Henry      John  Neilson !753 

Plumsted,  Clement Mrs  Plumsted 1768 

Thomas      William  Plumsted,  Esq 1751 


54$       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered                                              By  Whom  Year. 

Plumsted,  William      Mrs  Plumsted 1768 

Porter,  Alexander perse 1762 

John*      Benj  Franklin,  Esq I752 

Stephen*         Rev' d  John  Ewing 1761 

Postell,  James* William  West .    .  1769 

John* Do           1769 

Potts,  John      Thomas  Yorke,  Esq 1751 

Samuel Do               1752 

Powel,  Samuel*       Mary  Powell 1754 

Power,  Patrick Charles  Batho 1760 

Thomas Isaac  Garrick 1761 

Pratt,  Charles      Rebecca  Pratt 1753 

Joseph       Do           1751 

••Thomas Do           1755 

Prevost,  Augustine Colonel  Prevost 1756 

Price,  George       1751 

John Jonathan  Price 1751 

William William  Price 1761 

Pringle,  Joljn* Capt  Mason 1769 

Prior,  Norton Richard  Brogdon 1755 

Provoost,  William John  Sayres 17S3 

Purviance,  Andrew Samuel  Purviance *757 

Ramsay,  Hugh perse      1761 

Rankin,  John      George  Rankin      1768 

Rannals,  William Sarah  Rannalds 1761 

Read,   Franklin John  Read 1762 

John Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq 1756 

Thomas* per  se 1764 

Reade,  Jacob William  Coxe 1757 

Joseph* John  Sayre ^754 

Joseph Joseph  Reade 1755 

Reading,  Philip* pr  his  Father 1765 

Reed,   Bowes Andrew  Reed 1751 

Joseph* Do  1751 

Joseph      .    .     ....    .    .  Thomas  Lawrence 1752 

Redman,  Joseph Joseph  Redman 1767 

Reese,  Duddleton  Stocker     .    .    .  Anthony  Stocker 1757 

Reily,  John John  Ord 1767 

Samuel -Do         1768 

Reynolds,  William Sarah  Reynolds 1760 

Rice,  John Leonard  Milcher 1760 

Richards,  Philip Daniel  Currey 1757 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.        549 

Entered                                            By  Whom  Year. 

Ridgley,  Charles Dr  James  Dove 1751 

Ringgold,  Thomas Charles  Swain 1757 

Rivers,  Shadlock Joseph  Rivers 1752 

Roberts,  Samuel Mary  Roberts 1751 

Robinson,  Abraham Dr  Rowan 1756 

Beverly      Henry  Hill 1766 

Edward Peter  Robinson 1752 

Joseph Budd  Robinson 1751 

William Peter  Robinson      1751 

Rogers,  James Reese  Meredith 1760 

Rogers,  John*  [Rodgers  ?]    .    .    .  John  Wilcocks 1751 

Philip Reese  Meredith 1760 

Ronan,  John 1767 

Ross,  George George  Ross, 'Esq 1767 

Round,  Samuel Samuel  Caldwell 1767 

Rowan,  Thomas Dr  Rowan 17S9 

Rudolph,  John 1767 

Rumsey,  Nathan* Mr  Davidson 1769 

Rundle,  George* Daniel  Rundle 1756 

Richard Do             1762 

Rush,  Jacob Richard  Morris 1756 

William William  Rush J756 

Rutherford,  John Andrew  Elliot 1757 

Salter,  John Capt  Elisha  Salter 1754 

Robert      Do  1754 

Sample,  David* perse      1764 

Saunders,  Arnold Ebenezer  Kinnersly 1754 

George* Thomas  Asten 1757 

John* John  Relfe 1 760 

Martindale Do  1759 

Savage,  Nath1  Littleton     ....  perse      1753 

Robert Robert  Ritchie 1768 

Sayre,  James*  [Sayer  ?]    ....  Capt  John  Sayre 1756 

Sayres,  John John  Sayres 1751 

Schuyler,  Arent 1751 

Ranseler       1751 

Samuel Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq  .    .    .    .'.1761 

Scott,  Edward per  se      ...        1763 

John John  Scott      1762 

Thomas William  Scott 1761 

William Do  1754 

Scull,  Joseph Redmond  Conyngham  ...     ...  1764 


5  So       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Scull,  William 1751 

Seth,  Charles Sarah  Wilkinson 1763 

Shall,  Joseph Redmond  Conyngham       1765 

Sharp,  Gillis Capt  John  Wilcocks      ......   1756 

John Do  1756 

Sharswood,  George George  Sharswood 1757 

James  . Do  1757 

William Do  1757 

Shee,  John Walter  Shee 1752 

Shenon,  Thomas James  Shenon 1755 

Shewbert,  Philip Isaac  Zane .    .  1751 

Shewell,  Robert Elizabeth  Shewell      1760 

Stephen Stephen  Shewell 1764 

Shippen,  Edward Edward  Shippen,  Esq 1766 

John Dr  William  Shippen 1751 

Joseph Do  1751 

Joseph* Joseph  Shippen 1751 

Shute,  John      1751 

Simpson,  Michael per  se      1768 

Sims,  Joseph Joseph  Sims J752 

Wooddrop Do  1767 

Sinclair,   Henry 1751 

Small,  Francis perse 1756 

Smith,  Benjamin* William  West 1769 

George William  Smith I752 

Gilbert  Hamilton  .    .     .    .  Dr  Phineas  Bond 1766 

James William  Smith 1752 

John '  .     .    .  George  Smith J759 

John Robert  Smith 1760 

John Cornelia  Smith 1765 

John Joseph  Sims 1768 

Jonathan Samuel  Smith 1751 

Peter*      .    .     ....     ...  William  West .     .    .  1769 

Samuel William  Smith I752 

Samuel Thomas  Smith 1765 

Thomas Thomas  Willing,   Esq 1 766 

Thomas* Dr  Smith 1767 

William      Samuel  Smith 1756 

William* Dr  Smith 1767 

Snow,  John      William  Plumsted,  Esq 1751 

Sobers,  John John  Sober 1764 

Somersall,  William Mrs  Filler 1757 

South  wick,  Solomon* Ebenezer  Kinnersly 1754 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF   PENNSYLVANIA.       551 

Entered  By  Whom  Year 

Spafford,  George John  Spafford 1757 

Stanley,  Joseph Valentine  Stanley      1767 

Richard William  Stanley 1755 

Valentine Valentine  Stanley 1762 

Stedman,  Charles Alexander  Stedman,  Esq     .     ...   1761 

John Do  ....  1761 

Stephens,  Evan per  se      1764 

John  [Stevens  ?]     .    .    .  Joseph  Bell 1756 

Sterling,  Walter      Thomas  Willing,  Esq 1762 

Stevenson/James William  Vanderspiegel X753 

John      James  Stevenson 1766 

Robert Mr  Stevenson 1765 

Stewart,  John*  [Stuart?]     ....  perse 1761 

Stiegel,  Jacob      John  Stiegel 1766 

Stiles,  Henry- Capt  Stiles 1767 

James John  Nesbit 1766 

Stillwaggon,  Lawrence John  Stillwaggon 1751 

Stout,  Harman Mrs  Stout 1766 

Street,  John per  se      1765 

Streight,  Christian* Rev  Mr  Muhlenberg 1766 

Strettell,  Robert Amos  Strettell 1760 

Stringer,  Samuel Dr  Thomas  Bond 1752 

Swan,  Richard Richard  Swan 1751 

Swift,  Charles John  Swift 1766 

Jacob Do         1761 

John Samuel  Swift      1751 

John  James  ...     .    .     .    .  Joseph  Swift 1755 

John  White* John  Swift      1756 

Joseph* Do  1760 

Swoope,  George Henry  Keppele J755 

Syng,  Joseph Philip  Syng 1755 

Taite,  Matthew*  [Tate  ?]  .    .    .    .  Mr  Davidson 1768 

Talbot,  James John  Talbot 1766 

Tallman,  Hinchman •   Dr  James  Dove *752 

James      James  Tallman       1755 

Tennison,  John  Thomas     ....  Capt  Magnus  Miller 1764 

Tew,  David Thomas  Mullen 1766 

Therould,  Douro Capt  John  Wilcocks      1757 

Thorn,   William* per  se 1768 

Thomas,  Alexander per  se      1756 

John* Mr  Davidson 1769 

Luke John  Sawer 1765 


552        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Thomas,  William* Capt  Morrel 1766 

Thomson,  George 1751 

William Richard  Peters,  Esq 1752 

Thornton,  George Amos  Strettell 1755 

Tilghman,    Edward* Richard  Peters,  Esq 1760 

James* James  Tilghman 1762 

Philemon     ...        .  Do  1766 

William*      Do  1762 

Tench* Tench  Francis 1752 

Tinker,  John Redmond  Conyngham      ..."..  1759 

Tittermary,   Richard John  Tittermary 1762 

Tolbert,  James John  Tolbert 1768 

Traill,  Robert John  Kidd 1761 

Tresse,  Thomas       Robert  Greenway 1756 

Trimingham,  John Alexander  Lunan 1765 

Trott,  John Emanuel  Josiah 1760 

Tucker,  Richard John  Nesbitt 1766 

Tuite,  Robert Robert  Tuite      1751 

Turner,  Thomas      Peter  Turner       1751 

William      Do  1751 

Tweedy,  Joseph* Nathaniel  Tweedy 1764 

Vance,  Adam James  Vance      1760 

Van  Cortlandt,  Stephen 1761 

Vangezel,  Benjamin Evan  Morgan 1753 

Vanlaer,  George I751 

Vaughan,  Thomas Capt  Lyon 1767 

Vanlouvening,  Joseph Widow  Vanlouvening 1751 

Vining,  Benjamin* Benjamin  Wyncoop 1765 

Waddell,  Henry* Capt  John  Sayre 1758 

Walker,  Philip John  Dickinson,  Esq 1765 

Robert Robert  Walker 1761 

William Capt  Magnus  Miller 1762 

Wall,  Richard Gurney  Wall      1760 

Wallace,  Joshua  Maddox*     .    .    .  John  Wallace 17 59 

Waller,  Michael 1754 

Waldron,  Mainsweet      Mr  Lyon 1767 

Walton,  Abraham* Thomas  Lawrence,  Esq I752 

Gerard Do  I752 

Ward,  James Tench  Francis,  Esq      1753 

Warner,  John Thomas  Riche 1765 

Waterman,  Kear Benjamin  Hutchins       1763 


HISTORY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF    PENNSYLVANIA.       553 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Watkins,  John Joseph  Watkins 1760 

Watts,  Stephen* per  se      1760 

Wayne,  Anthony per  se      1 763 

Weams,  Thomas Dr  Phineas  Bond      1752 

Webb,  James      !753 

John Elizabeth  Church      1752 

John Dr  John  Clifton 1751 

Webbe,  John      William  Griffiths 1757 

Weiser,  Benjamin Conrad  Weiser 1754 

Samuel Do  1754 

Weiss,  Jacob Jacob  Weiss  •   • 1762 

Welsh,  Edward  [Welch?]     .    .    .  Thomas  Gilbert 1756 

Valentine Do  1757 

Wells,    Benjamin     . i?59 

George 1760 

Richard       Charles  Cox 1761 

West,  John      Thomas  West 1764 

Westcott,  George George  Westcott 1769 

Wey,  Nicholas Joseph  Wey 1760 

White,  James      Townsend  White 1752 

John Do  1759 

Townsend Do  1752 

William* Thomas  White,  Esq      1754 

Whitpaine,  John Sarah  Whitpaine 1754 

Wickham,  John Thomas  Gilbert 1757 

Wilcocks,  Alexander* John  Wilcocks 1751 

John Do  1751 

John Robert  Wilcocks 1761 

William      Mrs  Mary  Hopkinson 1753 

Wilkins,  Nathaniel* George  Bartram 1769 

Wilkinson,  Daniel      Mrs  Wilkinson      1753 

Williams,  Charles Townsend  \Vhite 1752 

Charles Charles  Williams      1762 

Willing,  Charles Charles  Willing,  Esq 1751 

James Thomas  Willing !759 

Richard Charles  Willing 1752 

Willoughby,  John       Thomas  Bourk 1762 

Wilmer,  Edward  Price*     ....  Benjamin  Franklin 1753 

Wilt,  Christian Abraham  Wilt 1762 

Wister,  Caspar MrsWister 1753 

Daniel John  Wister 1752 

Witherhead,  William      1753 

Wood,  John Dr  McLean 1760 


554       HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Entered  By  Whom  Year. 

Wood,  Samuel 1751 

William Joseph  Wood 1763 

Woodcock,  Thomas Charles  Batho 1756 

Wooden,  John Reese  Meredith J755 

Woodroe,  William      Henry  Woodroe 1754 

Wormley,  Henry William  Hodge      J751 

Wright,  Joseph Joseph  Wright 1768 

Wynkoop,  Abraham Benjamin  Wynkoop      1762 

Benjamin      John  Inglis 1752 

James Benjamin  Wynkoop 1762 

Yearswood,  Naboth John  Howard 1757 

Yeates,  Jasper* John  Yeates *  .  .  .  1752 

John* Do  1752 

Yorke,  Andrew Thomas  Yorke,  Esq  1751 

Edward Do  1751 

Robinson*  [Robeson?].  .  Do  1751 

Samuel Do  1762 

Thomas Do  I751 

Young,  John John  Young 17S2 

John Col  James  Young  1764 

Nottley Dr  Thomas  Bond  1751 

William  John  Young 1752 


INDEX. 


Aberdeen  University,  curriculum,  235. 

Academy  and  College  (see  also  Charity  School).  Account  of  (1758),  519. 
Addresses,  to  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (1762),  404,  Samuel  Chandler 
(1762),  404,  Lord  Bute  (1763),  411,  King  George  (1763),  411.  Adver- 
tisement of  opening,  139.  Buildings,  the  first,  26,  27,  109-111,  116, 
123,  124,  231;  plans  for  (1761),  354-359;  purchase  of,  70,  125,  443- 
448,  464.  Charter,  177-179,  209-211,  439.  Co-education,  445. 
Commencements  (1757),  281,  286-291,  314;  (1759),  3391  (!76o),  347- 
350;  (1762),  360;  (1763),  362,  398;  (1764),  37o;  (1765),  431.  452- 
454;  (1766),  456,  458-463;  (1767),  466,  477;  (1768),  463,  485;  (1769), 
488;  (1770),  488;  (1771),  488-490.  Constitutions,  46;  ratification  of, 
52.  Curriculum  and  Education,  138,  205,  231,  233,  234,  269,  352, 
471,  473-476.  Degree  conferring,  164,  491.  Diplomas,  314.  English 
School,  472.  Examinations,  473.  Finances,  first  expenditures,  121; 
first  funds,  51,  120,  121;  finances  up  to  1762,  375-382;  general 
subscribers,  118,  12 1;  help  from  lotteries,  376-379;  investment 
of  capital  (1763),  416,  417;  loan  from  Philadelphia  lottery,  121; 
Perkasie  Manor,  201,  380,  344;  plans  in  1764,  444-446;  pur- 
chase of  apparatus,  125,  126,  221;  purchases  of  property,  122, 
176,  177,  464;  result  of  mission  to  England,  409,  415,  418-421; 
subscription  of  Trustees,  51,  118;  tuition  receipts,  491.  Graduates, 
268,  282-284,  298,  340,  349,  360,  362,  364,  452,  453,  458,  459,  466, 
475,  478,  486,  488-491.  Instructors,  see  Alexander,  F.  and  P.  Alison, 
Anderson,  Andrews,  Ayres,  B.  S.  and  T.  Barton,  W.  P.  C.  Barton, 
Beard,  Beveridge,  Campbell,  Cannon,  Carroll,  Constable,  Davidson, 
J.  Davis,  Donnaldson,  Dove,  Dungan,  Easton,  Eaton,  Ewing,  Fon- 
taine, Fook,  Grew,  T.  Hall,  G.  E.,  J.  T.,  R.  and  Dr.  R.  Hare,  Har- 
rison, Hunt,  Jackson,  Johnston,  E. ,  H.,  and  J.  Jones,  Keene,  Kin- 
nersley,  Kuhn,  Lang,  Latta,  John  and  Joseph  Montgomery,  J.  Mor- 
gan, Morton,  Ormsby,  Patterson,  Peisley,  Pollock,  Porter,  Pratt,  Read, 
Rittenhouse,  Rothenbuller,  Rush,  W.  Shippen,  jr.,  W.  Smith,  Steuart, 
Thomson,  Wallace,  Williamson,  Wilson.  Instructors,  in  1761,  375; 
private  lesson  giving,  351;  salaries  of,  123,  138,  142,  144,  150,  151, 
162,  167,  232,  245,  301,  375,  469,  484.  King  George's  interest,  412. 
Latin  School,  469.  Library,  336.  Logan* s  offer,  57.  Mathematical 
School,  470.  Medical  School,  abrogation  of  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Physic,  491;  curriculum,  475,  484-486;  commencements,  485,  486, 
488-490;  graduates,  491;  origin,  305-307,  479-483;  professors,  see 
Morgan,  W.  Shippen,  jr.,  Kuhn,  Rush,  Bond;  rules,  483,  485;  theses, 
489.  Mission  to  England  (1762),  382-394,  402-420.  Offer  to  Sam. 
Johnson,  127,  130-133,  136.  Origin,  501;  date  of  origin,  112-116, 


556  HlSTORV    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

335;  father,  442;  first  opening,  138,  139,  151;  Franklin's  proposals, 
30,  31,  33,  35,  46,  495;  Proud's  reference,  52.  Political  influences, 
319-321,  371,  432-443.  Prizes  for  students,  365-372.  Provost,  see 
Andrews,  DeLancey,  W.  Smith.  PtMic  appeals,  383-394,  404-406; 
see  Mission  to  England.  Public  Exercises,  229—231,  233,  243,  281- 
284,  286-291,  314,  338,  345,  347,  360,  362,  370,  398.  Pupils,  age 
of,  265,  266;  alteration  in  regulations,  352;  boarding,  354-359,  447; 
care  of,  448;  deaths  among,  207;  expenses  of,  444,  445,  447,  485; 
list  of  (up  to  1769),  530;  matriculants  (in  1757),  282-284;  number, 
267,  268;  pranks  of,  155;  see  also  Graduates.  Rectors,  see  F.  Alison, 
D.  Martin;  duties,  127.  Relations  to  Charity  School,  see  Charity 
School.  Relation  with  King' '  s  College,  see  King's  College.  Relation 
to  John  Penn,  373,  380,  381.  Relation  to  Penn'  a  Hospital,  see  Hos- 
pital, the  Pennsylvania.  Relation  to  W.  Smith  s  controversies,  272- 
275,  322-326,  328,  332.  Religious  policy,  424-429.  Royal  Brief, 
388-390,  402,  405.  Rules  and  Statutes,  217,  483,  484.  Schools,  see 
English,  Latin,  Medical  and  Mathematical  Schools;  also  see  curricu- 
lum. Seal,  233.  Titles,  177,  480,  490;  Matthew  Arnold's  term,  74. 
Tmstees,  see  A.,  J.  and  W.  Allen,  Bingham,  P.  and  T.  Bond,  J.  and 
T.  Cadwalader,  Chew,  Clymer,  Coleman,  J.  R.  and  W.  Coxe,  Duche, 
and  Duche,  jr.,  Elliott,  Francis,  Franklin,  A.  and  J.  Hamilton,  J.  I. 
C.  Hare,  F.  and  T.  Hopkinson,  Inglis,  I.  Jones,  Lardner,  J.  and  T. 
Lawrence,  Leech,  Logan,  Maddox,  Magaw,  Masters,  S.  M'Call,  jr., 
J.  and  T.  Mifflin,  R.  Morris,  I.  Norris,  R.  Penn,  Peters,  Plumsted, 
Powell,  Redman,  Rittenhouse,  E.  Shippen,  jr.,  W.  Shippen,  Stedman, 
A.  and  R.  Strettell,  Syng,  Taylor,  Tilghman,  J.  Turner,  T.  and  W. 
White,  C.,  T.  and  T.  M.  Willing,  Zachary.  Trttstees,  clerks  of,  108, 
221,  471;  first  action,  109;  number  necessary  to  transact  business, 
154;  places  of  meeting,  126;  presidents,  52,  372,  374;  prominence, 
317,  318;  public  interests  of,  228;  religious  tenets,  130,  425;  report 
of  Committee  on  Buildings  (1764),  444-446.  Trustees'  Meetings, 
Mimites  (\T q$),  52,  109;  (1750),  116-120,  136-138,  142,  154;  (1751), 
125,  144,  150,  152,  154,  155,  162;  (1752),  44,  151-  153-155,  177. 
183;  (1753),  US.  !7o,  175,  177,  178,  183,  184;  (1754),  154,  164,  175- 

2Oi;  (1755),  148,  158,  175,  209,  210,  217,  221,  222,  231,  232;  (1756), 
164,  227,  232,  234,  272,  273,  282;  (1757),  286,  314,  315;  (1758), 

328,  336-338;  (1759),  339-341,  343,  377;  (1760),  344,  347,  35  L 
380,  470;  (1761),  351,  352,  354,  355,  357-359,  383,  385:  (1762),  348, 
361,  382,  473,  480;  (1763),  247,  359,  362,  366-369,  471,  473,  474; 
(1764),  373,  374,  421,  422,  426,  471;  (1765),  415,452,453,481; 
(1766),  298,  460,  476;  (1767),  448,  466-469,  471,  481;  (1768),  249, 
472;  (1769),  250,  488;  (1770),  251;  (1771),  489,  490;  (1772),  107, 
174.  Tuition  fees,  157,  315,  375;  first  payment  of,  141;  Vice-Pro- 
vosts, see  F.  Alison,  J.  Andrews. 


HISTORY  OF  THK  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       557 

Alexander,  Alex.,  tutor  in  College,  452,  472. 

Alison,  Francis,  biographical  sketch,  163  ;  election  to  Vice-Provostship, 
209  ;  professorship,  162,  233,  375  ;  rectorship,  162. 

Alison,  Patrick,  tutor  in  Academy,  375,  469. 

Allen,  Andrew,  Trustee  of  Academy,  340. 

Allen,  John,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  108. 

Allen,  William,  biographical  sketch,  61 ;  subscriber  to  Academy,  118,  121. 

American  Magazine,  origin,  333. 

American  Philosophical  Society,  first  members,  31  ;  origin,  18,  31  ;  reor- 
ganization, 31 . 

Anderson,  tutor  in  College,  470. 

Andrews,  John,  ordination,  303  ;  professor  and  provost,  452  ;  tutor,  470  ; 
vice-provost,  304. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  address  in  University,  74. 

Associators,  origin,  32. 

Ayres,  William,  assistant  in  Charity  School,  269  ;  tutorship,  375. 

Barton,  Benjamin  Smith,  professor  in  College  &  University,  169. 

Barton,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  167  ;  honorary  degree,  348. 

Barton,  Wm.  P.  C.,  professor  in  University,   169. 

Bartram,  John,  31,  Franklin's  opinion  of,    165. 

Baynton,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Beard,  John,  tutor  in  Academy,  343. 

Belmont  Mansion  on  Schuylkill,  ownership,  95. 

Benezet,  Daniel,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Berkeley,  Bishop,  relations  with  Samuel  Johnson,  130,  letter  to,  506. 

Beveridge,  John,  characteristics,  124,  342,  467,  468;  death,  467;  professor- 
ship, 341,  375. 

Biddle,  Edward,  assistant  in  Academy,  144. 

Bingham,  William,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118,  Trustee,  89. 

Blair,  Wm.,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Bond,  Phineas,  biographical  sketch,  90;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 

Bond,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  97 ;  clinical  lecturer,  488 ;  founder  of 
Penn'a  Hospital,  181 ;  connection  with  St  John's  Lodge,  21 ;  subscrip- 
tion to  Academy,  118. 

Braddock's  expedition,  consequences  of,  279;  influence  on  Academy,  221 ; 
Pennsylvania  claimants,  71. 

Breck,  James  L.,  478. 

Brientnal,  Joseph,  17. 

Brockden,  Richard,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Brown,  John,  connection  with  Academy,  409. 

Burd,  James,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Burgess,  Thomas,  subscriber  to  Academy,    118. 

Cadwalader,  General  John,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  161. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Cadwalader,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  159;  election  to  Trustees  of 
Academy,  102,  155;  relation  to  Philadelphia  Library  Company,  20;  to 
St.  John's  Lodge,  21. 

Cambridge  University,  age  of  matriculants,  265 ;  education,  264,  265. 

Campbell,  Samuel,  tutor  in  Academy,  360,  375,  470. 

Cannon,  James,  professor  in  College,  466. 

Carroll,  Patrick,  connection  with  Charity  School,  153;  usher  in  Academy, 
151. 

Chandler,  Samuel,  connection   with   Academy,  404  ;   letter  to  Dr.  Peters, 

423- 

Charity  School  (see  also  Academy  and  College),  masters,  153,  269,  375; 
mistresses,  175,  269,  375;  new  building,  359;  opening,  152;  origin, 
no,  152;  separation  from  College,  446. 

Chew,  Benjamin,  biographical  sketch,  316;  descendants,  317;  election  to 
Trustees  of  Academy,  71. 

Christ  Church  School,  45. 

Church,  2d  Presbyterian,  foundation,  117. 

Clymer,  George,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  108. 

Coleman,  William,  biographical  sketch,  107;  clerk  of  Trustees,  220; 
member  of  Junto,  1 8;  subscriber  to  Academy,  118;  treasurer  of  Phila- 
delphia Library  company,  20;  treasurer  of  trustees  of  Academy,  52. 

Collins,  John,  relation  with  Franklin,  15. 

Columbia  College,  see  King's  College. 

Constable,  John,  tutor  in  Academy,  269. 

Cooke,  Samuel,  honorary  degree,  348. 

Coombe,  Thomas,  election  to  Christ  Church,  94. 

Coxe,  John,  member  American  Philosophical  Society,  31;  subscriber  to 
Academy,  118. 

Coxe,  John  R.,  trustee  of  University,  450. 

Coxe,  William,  election  to  trustees,  343. 

Cradock,  Thomas,  sketch  of,  171. 

Cradock,  William,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Creamer,  connection  with  Academy,  174,  175;  professorship,  473. 

Davidson,  James,  instructor  in  College,  469. 

Davis,  John,  master  in  Charity  School,  375 ;  tutor  in  Academy,  362,  469, 

470,  472. 

Davis,  Samuel,  honorary  degree,  347. 
DeLancey,  Wm.  H. ,  Provost  of  University,  65. 
Delaware  College,  foundation,  163,  312. 
Dickinson  College,  library,  159. 
Donnaldson,  Wm.,  tutor  in  Academy,  269. 
Dove,   David  J.,  election   to   mastership,    142;    private    school   of,    145; 

sketch  of,  143-145;  teacher  in  Germantown  Academy,  378. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       559 

Duche,  Jacob,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  70;  degree,  286;  subscrip- 
tion to  Academy,  118. 

Duche,  Jacob,  jr.,  biographical  sketch,  293;  election  to  Trustees  01 
Academy,  374. 

Dungan,  Thomas,  instructor  in  College,  452,  470-472. 

Dunn,  A.,  teacher  in  Charity  School,  153. 

Easton,  Jonathan,  assistant  in  College,  472. 

Eaton,  Robert,  instructor  in  College,  470. 

Edmiston,  Wm.,  biographical,  303. 

Edwards,  Morgan,  honorary  degree,  361. 

Elliott,  Andrew,  biographical  sketch,  450;  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy, 

97- 

Evans,  Nathaniel,  death,  467;  honorary  degree,  453. 
Ewing,  John,  connection  with  Academy,  337,  385,  474;  opinion  on  Indian 

troubles,  435. 

Fellow,  application  of  term,  136. 

Fontaine,  professor  in  College,  473. 

Fook,  Paul,  professor  in  College,  474. 

Fordyce,  David,  professor  at  Marischall  College,  194. 

Fothergill,  Dr.,  connection  with  College,  479. 

Francis,  Tench,  biographical  sketch,  67;  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy, 
210;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  biographical  sketch,  11-40,  73-83.  Academy  con- 
nections :  Academy' s  reliance  upon,  399 ;  connection  with  Board  of 
Trustees,  27,  52,  81;  correspondence  with  Dr.  Johnson,  506-509,  510- 
515;  disassociation,  227;  on  disposal  of  funds  (1750),  120,  123; 
draughter  of  Constitutions,  46;  founder  of  Academy,  33;  first  pro- 
posals (1743),  30,  31;  prospectus  and  proposals  (1749),  35,  495; 
resignation  of  presidency  of  Trustees,  272;  subscription,  118;  ideas 
on  education,  244-251.  Colonel  of  Philadelphia  regiment,  226. 
"Cool  Thoughts,"  etc.,  435.  Degrees  conferred  upon,  14,  180. 
Electrical  studies,  75,77,  173,401.  Founder  of  Pennsylvania  Gazette, 
19;  of  the  first  American  insurance  company,  24,  182;  of  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital,  76,  1 8 1.  Friendships,  with  Wm.  Allen,  64;  with 
John  Bartram,  165;  with  Samuel  Johnson,  127,  130,  132;  with  the 
Penns,  64,  439-441;  with  Wm.  Smith,  190-192,  200,  335,  395-402; 
with  Whitefield,  25,  28.  "  Narrative  of  the  late  Massacres,"  etc., 
433.  Plan  of  a  constitutional  federation,  203,  204.  Posttnastership, 
24,  1 80.  "  Remarks  on  a  lute  Protest,"  etc.,  441.  Relation  to  Stamp 
Act,  457.  Treaty  with  Indians,  183.  Usefulness,  182.  Visits,  to 
England  (1774),  440,  443;  to  Yale  College,  208. 


560          HlSTORV    OF    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    PENNSYLVANIA. 

Friends'  Publick  School,  early  teachers,  42,  43;  foundation,  41;  overseers, 
43,  44;  location,  45. 

German  immigrants,  see  Society  for  Education  of  Germans. 

Germantown  Academy,  foundation,  145,  378;  lottery  for,  378. 

Godfrey,  Thomas,  member  of  American  Philosophical  Society,  31;  mem- 
ber of  Junto,  18;  obituary  by  Franklin,  109. 

Grace,  Robert,  18. 

Greenway,  Robert,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Grew,  Theophilus,  election  to  mathematical  mastership,  142;  honorary 
degree,  286;  sketch  of,  146,  147. 

Growden,  Lawrence,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Hall,  David,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 1 8. 

Hall,  Thomas,  tutor  in  Academy,  106,  472. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  65. 

Hamilton,  James,  biographical  sketch,  211;  election  to  Trustees  of 
Academy,  61,  211;  relation  to  St .  John' s  Lodge,  21;  subscription  to 
Academy,  118. 

Hamilton,  William,  epilogue  by,  230. 

Hare,  George  Emlen,  professor  in  University,  89. 

Hare,  J.  I.  C. ,  trustee  and  professor  in  University,  89. 

Hare,  Robert,  trustee  of  Academy,  89. 

Hare,  Dr.  Robert,  professor  in  University,  89. 

Harrison,  Richard,  tutor  in  Academy,  375. 

Harvard  College,  13;  early  curriculum,  258-261;  father  of,  258;  grad- 
uates, 268. 

Hasell,  Samuel,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118,  119,  121. 

Hazard,  Samuel,  ground  sold  to  Academy,  122;  subscriber  to  Academy, 
118. 

Hicks,  Edwards,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Hill,  Richard,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Hodge,  Andrew,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Holwell,  Frances,  mistress  of  Charity  School,  175,  269. 

Hopkinson,  Francis,  biographical  sketch,  296;  dissension  from  Faculty, 
363;  degree,  286;  " Errata  on  the  Art  of  Printing,"  364;  essay,  179; 
prize  dissertation,  369.  , 

Hopkinson,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  100;  death,  155;  member  of 
American  Philosophical  Society,  31;  relation  to  Philadelphia  Library 
Company,  20;  to  St.  John's  Lodge,  21 ;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 

Hospital,  the  Pennsylvania,  first  physicians,  71;  foundation,  76,  180-182, 
482;  kinship  with  University,  182,  482,  483,  485. 

Howe,  General,  residence  in  Philadelphia,  70. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       561 

Humphreys,  James,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Humphreys,  William,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Hunt,  Isaac,  libels   on   the   College,    460,    461 ;   tutor   in   Academy,  362, 

364,  472. 

Huntingdon,  foundation  of,  465. 
Hutchins,  Joseph,  honorary  degree,  466. 

Inglis,  John,  aid  for  Academy,  410;  biographical  sketch,  66;  subscription 
to  Academy,  118. 

Jackson,  Paul,  biographical  sketch,  292;  clerk  to  trustees,  221;  death, 
467;  degree,  286;  elections  to  instructorships,  151,  233. 

James,  Abel,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Jay,  James,  connection  with  Academy  and  King's  College,  390-393,  405, 
407,  409,  410,  414,  419,  420;  knighthood,  412. 

Jeykill,  Margaret,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Johnson,  Samuel,  biographical  sketch,  128;  call  to  Academy,  127,  130, 
131  (and  Appendix  C);  correspondence  with  Franklin,  507,  510-515; 
with  Dr.  Peters,  509,  510;  declination  of  Academy's  offer,  132; 
"  Elementa  philosophica,"  133;  president  of  King's  College,  131, 
133;  death,  135. 

Johnston,  Robert,  tutor  in  Academy.  364,  471. 

Jones,  Edward,  instructor  in  College,  472. 

Jones,  Horace,  instructor  in  Academy,  269. 

Jones,  Isaac,  trustee  of  Academy,  86. 

Jones,  John,  sketch  of,  150. 

Jones,  Rob.  Strettell,  honorary  degree,  453. 

Junto,  formation,  17;  members,  18;  relation  to  Philadelphia  Library  Com- 
pany, 20. 

Keene,  Samuel,  tutor  in  Academy,  340. 

Keith,  George,  sketch  of,  42,  43. 

King's  College,  advertisement  of  opening,  134,  516;  charter,  133;  date  of 
term  Columbia  College,  135;  designs  for,  127,  186,  187,  207;  funds 
for,  133;  number  of  graduates,  268;  medical  school,  483;  relation  to 
Academy  in  Philadelphia,  134,  387,  390-394,  419,  420,  425,  483; 
religious  policy,  425. 

Kinnersley,  Ebenezer,  biographical  sketch,  172;  election  to  English  mas- 
tership, 145,  170;  electrical  studies,  79,  80;  honorary  degree,  286; 
memorial  window  to,  174;  relations  to  Academy,  77;  professorship, 
375,  472;  stewardship,  446,  447. 

Kirke,  John,  assistant  in  Charity  School,  269. 

Kuhn,  Adam,  professor  in  College,  481. 

Kyn,  Joran,  founder  of  Swedish  settlement  at  Upland,  66. 


562        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Lang,  James,  tutor  in  Academy,  362,  364,  469. 

Lardner,  Lynford,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118;  trustee  of  Academy,  374, 

449- 
Latta,  James,   biographical  sketch,  301;  degree,  286;  tutor  in  Academy, 

232. 

Lawrence,  John,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  103. 
Lawrence.  John,  jr. ,  subscriber  to  Academy,   1 18. 

Lawrence,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  59;  subscription  to  Academy,  1 18. 
Lawrence,  Thos.,  jr.,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Leech,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  82;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 
Library  Company  of  Philadelphia,  origin,  20. 
Logan,  James,  attendance  on  Trustees'  meetings,  43;  biographical  sketch, 

53;    death,  155;  gifts  to  Academy,  20,    118;  library,  57;  overseer  of 

Friends'  Publick  School,  43;  president  of  the  Council,  23. 
Log  College,  449. 
Lotteries,  378;  laws  for  suppression  of,  379. 

Maddox,  Joshua,  biographical  sketch,  104;  election  to  Trustees  of  Acad- 
emy, 210;  subscription  to  Academy,   118. 
Magaw,  Samuel,  biographical  sketch,  303;  degree,  286. 
Makin,  Thomas,  teacher  in  Friends'  Publick  School,  43. 
Martin,  David,  rector  of  Academy,  127,  136;   obituary  notes,  141,  142. 
Martin,  Josiah,  death,  286;  relation  with  Wm.  Smith,  186,  196,  205. 
Martin,  Wm.  T.,  death,   207. 
Masonic  Lodge,  the  earliest,  21. 
Master,  application  of  term,  136. 
Masters,  Mary,  historic  house  of,  60,  71. 

Masters,  William,  biographical  sketch,  68;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 
Mather,  Joseph,  honorary  degree,  361. 
Maugridge,  Wm.,  member  of  Junto,  18. 
M'Call,  Archibald,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

M'Call,  Samuel,  jr.,  biographical  sketch,  71 ;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 
Mcllvaine,  David,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 1 8. 
Meredith  Charles,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Meredith,  Hugh,  18. 

Meredith,  Reese,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Middleton,  Mrs.,  mistress  of  Charity  School,  375. 
Mifflin,  John,  biographical  sketch,  216;  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy, 

210. 

Mifflin,  Thomas,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  91. 

M'Kean,  Robert,  honorary  degree,  348. 

Montgomery,  John,  biographical  note,  458;  tutor  in  Academy,  459,  470, 

472. 
Montgomery,  Joseph,  usher  in  Academy,  343. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       563 

Moore,  Judge,  legal  case,  322-326,  331. 

Morgan,  Evan,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 18. 

Morgan,  John,  aid  for  Academy,   410;   biographical   sketch,    304;  degree, 

286;  first  medical  professor,  102,  479-482;  winner  of  medal,  368,  370; 

Smith's  eulogy  of,  370. 

Morrey,  Humphrey,  first  mayor  of  Philadelphia,  84. 
Morris,  John,  essay  by,  179. 

Morris,  Robert,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  95. 
Morton,  Andrew,  master  of  Charity  School,  269;   tutor  in  Academy,  342; 

charges  against,  451. 

Muhlenberg,  Henry,  letter  on  German  immigrants,  276. 
Muhlenberg,  Henry  E.,  478. 

Neaves,  Samuel,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 18. 

Norris,  Isaac,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  44,  58,  155;  biographical 
sketch,  156;  Overseer  of  Friends'  Publick  School,  43. 

Ord,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Ormsby,  John,  tutor  in  Academy,  269;  in  Charity  School,  153. 

Oxford  University,  age  of  matriculants,  265;  education,  264,  265. 

Parsons,  William,  member  of  American  Philosophical  Society,  31;  mem- 
ber of  Junto,  1 8. 

Paschall,  Stephen,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Patterson,  John,  tutor  in  College,  452. 

Paxton  Boys,  434,  436,  439 . 

Peisley,  instructor  in  Academy,  151. 

Pemberton,  James,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Penn,  John,  relations  to  Academy,  373,  374, 

Penn  Richard,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  107. 

Penn,  Thomas,  interest  in  Academy,  344,  380,  381,  385,  388,  418  ;  letter 
on  Medical  School,  306,  479. 

Penn  Charter  School,  see  Friend' s  Publick  School. 

Pennsylvania  Gazette,  origin,  19. 

Perkasie  Manor,  201,  380,  416. 

Peters,  Richard,  biographical  sketch,  92,  95  ;  letters  to  Samuel  Johnson, 
131,  509;  president  of  Trustees  of  Academy,  272;  secretary  of  the 
Province,  30  ;  sermon  at  opening  of  Academy,  140,  141  ;  subscription 
to  Academy,  118  ;  visit  to  England,  430. 

Physick,  Philip  Syng,  connection  with  Academy,  88. 

Pliny,  the  Younger,  letter  of,  1 1 . 

Plumsted,  William,  biographical  sketch,  102  ;  relation  to  St.  John's 
Lodge,  21  ;  subscriptions  to  Academy,  118,  120. 

Pollock  (Polock),  Thomas,  tutor  in  Academy,  361,  375,  469. 


564        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Poor  Richard's  Almanack,  2 1 . 

Porter,  John,  master  in  Charity  School,  375  ;  tutor  in  Academy,  360. 

Potts,  Stephen,  18. 

Powel  Samuel,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  88. 

Pratt,    Thomas,    tutor    in    Academy,  269,     375,    471  ;    in   Germantown 

Academy,  378. 

Price,  George,  assistant  in  Charity  School,  153. 
Princeton  College,  founders,  84  ;  graduates,  268  ;  lottery  for,  378. 
Proprietaries' Interests,  157,  213,  225,  270,  311,  436,  439-441. 

Read,  Samuel,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Read,  Thomas,  tutor  in  the  College,  459,  470. 

Rector,  application  of  term,  136. 

Redman,  John,  biographical  sketch,  449 ;  election  to  trustees  of  Academy, 

72. 

Reed,  Joseph,  Academy  connections,  368,  459;  honorary  degree,  459. 
Rhoads,  Samuel,  31. 
Rittenhouse,  David,  honorary  degree,  466;  professorship,    467;  Trustee  of 

Academy,  467. 

Roberdeau,  Controversy,  270-275,  279. 
Ross,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Rothenbuller,  teacher  in  College,  474. 
Rush,  Benjamin,  biographical  sketch,  487 ;  professorship,  488. 

St.  Andrew's  Society,  organization,  66. 

St.  John's  Lodge,  formation,  21,  63. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  location,  72. 

Sargent,  John,  prizes  offered  by,  365-372,  397;  sketch  of,  371,  372. 

Sauer,  Christopher,  opposition  to  Franklin,  278,  280. 

Saunders,  Joseph,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Schools,  of  Philadelphia;  early  schools,    40;  night  schools,    150;  see  also 

Christ  Church  School,  Friends'  Publick  School,  Germantown  Academy, 

Videll's  Alley  School,  School  of  Tennent. 

School  teachers  of  Philadelphia,  see  Beveridge,  Dove,  Keith,  Makin. 
Scull,  Nicholas,  18. 
Seabury,  Bishop,  ordination,  199. 
Searle,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Seeker,  Archbishop,  letter  to  Dr.  Peters,  419. 
Sherlock,  Archbishop,  letter  testimonial  to  Wm.  Smith,  185. 
Shippen,  Edward,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 
Shippen,  Edward,  Jr.,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  68,   343. 
Shippen,  William,   attendance  at  Trustees'    meetings,    427;  biographical 

sketch,  84;  subscription  to  Academy,    118. 
Shippen,  William,  Jr.,  professor  in  the  College,  479,  482. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA.       565 

Shute,  Attwood,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Simonton,  John,  honorary  degree,  361. 

Sims,  Joseph,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Smith,  Isaac,  honorary  degree,  361. 

Smith,  Sampson,  honorary-  degree,  348. 

Smith,  William,  Academy  Connections,  first  relations,  184,  194,  197,  201, 
202;  draught  of  charter,  209;  educational  projects,  187,  188,  205, 
234-244,  252-256  ;  letters  to  Dr.  Peters  (1754)  204  ;  mission  to  Eng- 
land (1762),  382-395,  402-420;  prayers  for  use  at  the  Academy,  197. 
Biographical  Sketch,  185  ;  Degrees,  332,  414,  185.  Editor  of 
American  Magazine,  335  ;  of  Colonel  Bouquet's  Journals,  451. 
Eulogy  on  Dr.  Morgan,  370.  Help  for  German  Immigrants,  199, 
275-279.  Marriage,  91,  329.  Politics,  Duquesne  Campaign,  330  ; 
Indian  troubles  (1764),  437,  438  ;  Judge  Moore  case,  322-326,  328, 
331  ;  Roberdeau  controversy,  270-275  ;  political  sermon  (1755),  223> 
on  Stamp  Act,  456.  Relations  with  Franklin,  335,  395-402. 
Religious  activity,  change  of  religion,  191  ;  missionary  work,  477  ; 
on  religious  bodies,  327  ;  ordination,  199  ;  preaching  powers,  477  ; 
president  of  conventions,  451  ;  rector  of  Oxford  Parish,  455,  464  ; 
Sermons,  284,  286.  Return  from  England,  (1754),  200  ;  (1759),  344; 
(1764),  420. 

Society  for  Education  of  Germans,  foundation,  275-279. 

Sonmans,  Peter,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Southwick,  Samuel,  honorary  degree,  286. 

Stamp  Act,  456-458. 

Stedman,  Alexander,   biographical  sketch,    214  ;    election  to  Trustees  of 
Academy,  90,  211. 

Steuart,  Andrew,    "Short  introduction  to  Grammar,"  363,  468. 

Stiles,  Ezra,  oration  on  Franklin,  208. 

Strettell,  Amos,  biographical  note,  449;  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy, 
86,  374;  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Strettell,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Strettell,  Robert,  biographical  sketch,   86;  subscription  to  Academy,    118. 

Syng,  Philip,  biographical  sketch,    87;  relation  to  Philadelphia  Library 
Company,  20;  to  St.  John's  Lodge,  21;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 

Taylor,  Abram,  biographical  sketch,  96;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 

Tennent,  William,  school  of,  449. 

Thomson,  Charles,  election  to  Latin  Mastership,  142;  sketch  of,  147. 

Tilghman,  James,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  67. 

Till,  William,  see  L.  William. 

Trotter,  James,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Turner,  Joseph,  biographical  sketch,  72;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 


566        HISTORY  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Union  Fire  Company,  origin,  24. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  see  Academy  and  College ;  see  Charity  School. 

VidelTs  Alley  School,  145. 

Wallace,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Wallace,  Joshua,  M.,  alumnus  of  Academy,  104;  tutor  in  the  College,  466. 

Washington,  George,  residence  in  Philadelphia,  61,  70. 

Watts,  Stephen,  prize  essay,  368:  tutor  in  Academy,  361,  469. 

Webb,  George,  member  of  Junto,  1 8 . 

White,  Thomas,  biographical  sketch,  105  ;  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy, 

210;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 
White,  Townsend,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 1 8. 
White,  William,  biographical  note,  452;  on   Jacob  Duche",  Jr.,  295,  296; 

rector  of  Christ  Church,  94,  106;  trustee  of  the  College,  452. 
Whitefield,  George,  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  25;   confession   of  faith,  117, 

death,  28 ;  last  visit  to  Philadelphia,  28:  ordination,    25;  preaching  in 

Christ  Church,  (1763),  455;  preaching  powers,    109,    no;  sermon  at 

Academy,  (1764),  432. 

Wilcocks  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  1 1 8. 
William   and   Mary   College,    adoption   of  curriculum    of    Philadelphia 

College,  263;  education,  262;  graduates,  267,  268,  origin,  261. 
William,  Lawrence,  vs.  William  Till,  104. 
Williamson,  Hugh,  biographical  sketch,    309;   degree,    286;  instructor  in 

Academy,  232,  269,  375,  471. 

Willing,  Charles,  biographical  sketch,  88;  subscription  to  Academy,  118. 
Willing,  Thomas,  election  to  Trustees  of  Academy,  89,  105,  374. 
Willing,  Thomas  M.,  trustee  of  Academy,  89. 
Wilson,  James,  tutor  in  the  College,  459. 
Wilson,  Matthew,  honorary  degree,  348. 

Yale  College,  early  curriculum,  256-258  ;  first  professorship,  255  ;  first 
use  of  term  "professor,"  254;  graduates,  268  ;  relation  to  Harvard 
College,  258  ;  religious  troubles  (1722),  129  ;  removal  to  New  Haven, 
128,  258;  use  of  terms  "rector,"  "master,"  "fellow,"  "tutor," 

136- 
Yeates,  John,  subscriber  to  Academy,  118. 

Zachary,  Lloyd,  biographical  sketch,  70  ;    subscription  to  Academy,  118. 


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